Courts Block Education Department’s DACA Aid Interim Final Rule
Two cases have been filed against the Department of Education’s (ED) interim
final rule regarding student eligibility for Emergency Student Financial Aid Grants,
which were established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The interim
final rule was officially published on June 17. Since the release
of $6 billion in emergency grants, there has been confusion surrounding whether
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students were eligible to receive
the grants. Previously, ED stated
that DACA students were not eligible because the funds were being disbursed in
accordance with the Title IV regulations of the Higher Education Act. Title IV
regulations prohibit noncitizens from receiving federal student financial aid.
The interim final regulations bars noncitizens from receiving emergency student
grants by clearly aligning student eligibility with Title IV eligibility.
Opponents of the rule assert that the CARES Act did not
intend to limit eligibility to the emergency student aid.
However, legal challenges to the interim final rule have
once again left the eligibility question open. California Community Colleges were
the first to file a lawsuit
against ED over its interim final rule. The colleges allege that ED violated the
constitutional principle of separation of powers by declaring DACA students ineligible
for emergency grants under the CARES Act. The colleges asked the U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of California to find the interim final rule unconstitutional
and to grant preliminary injunctive relief to the colleges. Within days, the court
ruled in favor of the community colleges
and granted them injunctive relief. This preliminary injunctive only applies to California.
Using the same unconstitutional
argument, Washington State also filed a lawsuit
against ED in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington over
the same interim rule and asked for injunctive relief as well. While the Court
did grant preliminary injunctive relief to Washington State, the
Court noted that though ED did not have the right to withhold the emergency grants
under the CARES Act, ED does have the right to withhold funding under another
federal law. The judge further noted that “both sides present . . . compelling
arguments.” This preliminary injunction only applies to Washington State.
ED has indicated that it will appeal both decisions.
