A federal judge has granted a group of undocumented students in Kentucky the right to defend their in-state tuition rates when their state won’t.

Since summer, the Trump administration has challenged in-state tuition policies in Kentucky, Illinois, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Texas, arguing they discriminate against out-of-state American citizen students. In a proposed settlement filed in August, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education agreed to end the benefit.

But Kentucky Students for Affordable Tuition, represented by attorneys from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, filed a motion to intervene in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to defend the state’s policy. On Thursday, Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, a George W. Bush appointee, granted the motion despite protests from the plaintiff in the suit—the Justice Department.

“As the party that brought this suit, Plaintiff cannot say that it is prejudiced by having to prove its claim,” Van Tatenhove wrote in his ruling.

He noted that the student group argued that its members, if not allowed to defend in-state tuition, “may have to reduce their coursework, withdraw from their degree programs, or reconsider attending college altogether.”

The Justice Department had argued in a filing that it’s “unclear that a voluntary choice to stop or not enter college courses because the student deems that the price is too high would constitute an injury … If a student chooses not to pay the increased tuition rate, that is no injury but a rational response to price signals.”

A department spokesperson said Thursday that it is “reviewing the court’s opinion and will continue efforts to ensure U.S. students are not treated like second-class citizens.” A Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education spokesperson said their agency is reviewing the order and had no further comment.