Dept. Education Investigates Discrimination Against American-Born Students After Equal Protection Project Complaints

Dept. Education Investigates Discrimination Against American-Born Students After Equal Protection Project Complaints

The Equal Protection Project (EqualProtect.org), which has filed legal challenges to DEI discrimination covering over almost 500 discriminatory programs and scholarships, recently filed five Civil Rights Complaints with the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education regarding scholarships that are open only to DACA-eligible or ‘undocumented’ students. Such scholarships by definition allow only student born abroad to apply, since DACA does not apply to American-born students, who also are not ‘undocumented.’ This constitutes discrimination on the basis of national origin, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1963.

It’s important to note that we have not challenged whether DACA/Undocumented students can apply for scholarships, that’s a separate issue. The issue in our complaints is whether schools that receive federal funding and therefore are subject to the Civil Rights Act can promote and administer scholarships that exclude American-born students.

We have posted about three of these DACA/Undocumented legal challenges previously, which were among several types of discrimination challenged at these schools:

• Equal Protection Project Challenges 100th School – DACA-Only Scholarship At U. Nebraska Omaha
• “DACA and Undocumented” Scholarship and Others at U. Louisville Challenged By Equal Protection Project
• Eight Discriminatory Scholarships, Including DACA/Undocumented-Only, at Western Michigan U Challenged By Equal Protection Project

We recently filed two more Civil Rights Complaints that we have not had a chance to write up as blog posts yet:

• EPP OCR Complaint v. University of Miami
• EPP OCR Complaint v. University of Michigan (DACA Undocumented Scholarship)

Today the U.S. Department of Education issued a Press Release indicating that it had opened formal investigations:

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has opened national origin discrimination investigations into the University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of Miami, the University of Michigan, and Western Michigan University. The investigations will determine whether these universities are granting scholarships only for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or “undocumented” students, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s (Title VI) prohibition against national origin discrimination.

These investigations are based on complaints submitted to OCR by the Legal Insurrection Foundation’s Equal Protection Project, which seeks to ensure equal protection under the law and non-discrimination by the government in any form.

“On January 21, 2025, President Trump promised that ‘every single day of the Trump Administration, [he] will, very simply, put America first.’ Neither the Trump Administration’s America first policies nor the Civil Right 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,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. “As we mark President Trump’s historic six months back in the White House, we are expanding our enforcement efforts to protect American students and lawful residents from invidious national origin discrimination of the kind alleged here.”

“Protecting equal access to education includes protecting the rights of American-born students. At the Equal Protection Project, we are gratified that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is acting on our complaints regarding scholarships that excluded American-born students,” said William A. Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project. “Discrimination against American-born students must not be tolerated.”

The investigations also will examine additional scholarships that appear to exclude students based on other aspects of Title VI, including race and color.

Background

According to the complaints, the following scholarships allegedly provide unlawful exclusionary funding based on national origin:

• University of Louisville’s Sagar Patagundi Scholarship to “subsidize the cost of higher education…for undergraduate DACA and undocumented students;”
• University of Nebraska Omaha’s Dreamer’s Pathway Scholarship for “students who are DACA or DACA-eligible and Nebraska residents who are seeking an undergraduate degree;”
• University of Miami’s U Dreamers Program, which “is available to academically talented and admissible [DACA] and undocumented high school seniors and transfer students;”
• University of Michigan’s Dreamer Scholarship, which “is intended to support undocumented students or students with DACA status;” and
• Western Michigan University’s WMU Undocumented/DACA Scholarship “for undergraduate students who are ineligible to receive federal student aid due to an undocumented or DACA status.”

OCR will also investigate other allegedly impermissible and exclusionary scholarships detailed in the complaint, which include:

• University of Louisville’s Dawn Wilson Scholarship for “undergraduate LGBTQ+ students of color” and the Louisville Tango Festival Scholarship for “Latino/a/x and Hispanic students;”
• University of Nebraska Omaha’s HDR Scholarship, which gives “preference…to underrepresented minority students;” and
• Western Michigan University’s Elissa Gatlin Endowed Scholarship for “African American, Native American, or Hispanic American” students.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon issues a statement on X:

Non-citizens should not be given special preference over American citizens for scholarships at American universities.

@usedgov opened an investigation into 5 universities for allegedly blocking U.S. students from accessing DACA scholarships.

Non-citizens should not be given special preference over American citizens for scholarships at American universities.@usedgov opened an investigation into 5 universities for allegedly blocking U.S. students from accessing DACA scholarships.https://t.co/eDU1VrdIVH

— Secretary Linda McMahon (@EDSecMcMahon) July 23, 2025

The announcement has created an avalanche of publicity across the media landscape, with several dozen outlets, including major MSM publications, covering the story and EPP’s involvement:

We expect a lot more publicity in the coming days, you can follow EPP news updates at the EPP News Page.

Reminder: we are a small organization going up against powerful and wealthy government and private institutions devoted to DEI discrimination. Donations are greatly needed and appreciated.

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