‘This is cruel’: Betsy DeVos bars certain students, including DACA recipients, from COVID-19 relief funds
“These extreme eligibility requirements will not only harm students, but
they are also contrary to congressional intent,” said Sen. Patty
Murray.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos sparked outrage Thursday by doubling down
on an April guidance that bars U.S. higher education institutions from
giving any federal coronavirus relief funds to foreign, undocumented, and
certain other students.
“As students across the country are struggling to make ends meet in the face of unprecedented financial challenges, Secretary DeVos’ efforts to deny some much-needed aid is cruel.”
—Sen. Patty Murray
“Secretary Betsy DeVos’ rule makes clear that even though Covid-19 doesn’t
discriminate, this administration does,” declared Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers
(AFT), the nation’s second-largest educators union.
“Our country is facing three major crises—a public health crisis, an
economic crisis, and a racial justice crisis—all of which exacerbate the
inequalities in our communities and require more help from our federal
government, not less,” she said. “Yet in our moment of greatest need, this
administration doubles down on its bigoted, anti-immigrant stance, and DeVos
does the dirty work by cutting off any aid that could help our undocumented
students.”
The announcement came after Eloy Ortiz Oakley, chancellor of California Community Colleges, and Washington state
Attorney General Bob Ferguson brought legal challenges against the April guidance in May—the same month the Department of
Education claimed (pdf) the guidance was “preliminary” and would not be enforced.
However, the new interim final rule (pdf)—which reiterates the guidance’s eligibility requirements—will
carry the force of CONTINUE READING: ‘This is cruel’: Betsy DeVos bars certain students, including DACA
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