A group of 24 states and the District of Columbia is suing the Trump administration to keep funding revoked by the administration for allegedly being used to teach English to illegal immigrants in some cases.
The lawsuit, led by California, claims $7 billion in federal funds were “unlawfully frozen” by the administration just a day before they were set to be distributed to states. The money went towards adult education programs and after-school classes, including English learning classes for immigrants and was revoked on June 30 for apparently fueling “a radical leftwing agenda.”
“Defendants’ unlawful actions have caused chaos in the Plaintiff States’ educational systems,” the lawsuit reads. “Plaintiff States already have planned for the upcoming academic year—which is set to start in weeks in many areas—in reliance on the billions of dollars that are now frozen.”
The lawsuit claims the administration’s decision to withhold the funds “is contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious, and unconstitutional.” All of the plaintiff states are represented by a Democratic attorney general or governor. (RELATED: California Defied Trump’s Ban On Men In Women’s Sports. Now, It’s Being Taken To Court)
The White House and Department of Education did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
“With the school year right around the corner, the Trump Administration is unlawfully freezing $6 billion in previously approved education funding for our schools. We’re suing,” Democrat California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in an X post. “We won’t let the President throw our schools into chaos and risk the academic success of a generation.”
When announcing the withheld funding, the Trump administration reportedly said it was reviewing whether or not to cancel the grants entirely after it found several state were specifically funneling the money towards organizations that advocate for illegal immigrants or were allowing illegals to access scholarships that were “intended for American students.”
The Trump administration has been cracking down on the use of federal funding to benefit illegal immigrants, recently ending a decades-old rule that allowed illegals to qualify for taxpayer-subsidized technical and career training programs, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported exclusively. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has also been suing states that allow aliens to qualify for in-state tuition prices at universities, though some schools still attempt to shield illegal immigrants from deportation and continue providing special perks in defiance of the Trump administration.
ED previously revoked funding waivers from colleges and universities in California and Oregon after they allegedly used funds meant for low-income, first-generation and disabled students on illegal aliens. Other federal agencies under the administration have also been attempting to boot illegals from taxpayer-funded programs.
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