The Wall Street Journal has torn into President Donald Trump for “discriminating” against Dreamers after a crackdown was launched at five universities.
The Department of Education launched a series of “national origin discrimination investigations” at five colleges with scholarship programs specifically designated for Dreamers—undocumented young people who arrived in the U.S. before 2007, have no ties to their parents’ country of origin, and who were granted clemency under the Obama administration.
The Journal, in an editorial, said the investigations seem to be punishing Dreamers for the crimes of their parents.
The DoE announced a crackdown on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students, or Dreamers, at Louisville, Nebraska Omaha, Miami, Michigan, and Western Michigan universities in July.
Dreamer students are often, the Journal’s editorial board wrote, from modest backgrounds, and their legal status means they are not eligible for federal aid, meaning such scholarships are their only source of aid.
Now, the Trump administration has argued that colleges that provide such scholarships are “discriminating against native-born Americans,” and citing the 1964 Civil Rights Act to advance its agenda.
“Why is [the Trump administration] needlessly harassing colleges that provide scholarships to young people who came to the country illegally as children?” the Journal asked, claiming the move is “discriminating against DACA students.”
In an X post announcing the investigations, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said, “Non-citizens should not be given special preference over American citizens for scholarships at American universities.”
But the Journal rejected McMahon’s logic. “Denying Dreamers an opportunity to learn and advance in society doesn’t help anyone. It’s another example of the way the Trump Administration’s mass deportation agenda is at war with the country’s need for human talent,” the paper wrote. “Keep in mind these DACA students are currently legal residents of the U.S.”
It added, “The real point of these investigations seems to be one more way of punishing Dreamers because their parents crossed illegally into the U.S. decades ago. Ditto the Justice Department’s lawsuits against states that provide lower in-state tuition to Dreamers.”
The DoE’s office for civil rights also announced it would be investigating scholarships that appear to exclude students based on race and national origin.
Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said, “Neither the Trump Administration’s America First policies nor the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition on national origin discrimination permit universities to deny our fellow citizens the opportunity to compete for scholarships because they were born in the United States.”
The Journal accused Trainor of having a “rationale in search of a problem that doesn’t exist,” and the government of discriminating against Dreamers.
The University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of Miami, the University of Michigan, and Western Michigan University are the five colleges being investigated by the DoE over the alleged discrimination.
Earlier this year, the University of Michigan announced it was cutting its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs following pressure from the federal government.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Department of Education for further comment.
