Setback for DeVos in Emergency Aid Suit

Inside Higher Ed

Kery Murakami

June 18, 2020

For the second time in a week, a federal judge has blocked the U.S. Department of Education from enforcing its interpretation that limits student eligibility for emergency aid grants under CARES Act for some colleges.

But the department in a statement said it will appeal both a ruling Wednesday by a judge in Northern California and one on Friday in Washington State that found that U.S. Secretary Betsy DeVos’s take on the coronavirus relief package runs counter to what Congress intended.

In the ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rodgers on Wednesday granted a preliminary injunction sought by the California community college system, which prevents the department from enforcing its interim rule that only students who are eligible for regular federal aid can receive the grants — a position that excludes undocumented students and others.

But while a federal judge in Washington State on Friday stopped short of including undocumented students in the injunction, Gonzalez said the department erred in arguing noncitizens are not eligible for the help.

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