Attorney General Bonta Secures Court Ruling Temporarily Blocking Trump Administration's “Fishing Expedition” into Colleges and Universities

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a statement on a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to grant a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump Administration's burdensome new requirements that colleges and universities submit data linking race to admissions, financial aid, and student performance. While the Trump Administration claims to be seeking this data to assist it in enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, its unprecedented new demands make it all but impossible for colleges and universities to submit usable data for review. Instead, the coalition is concerned that this unreliable data will be used to initiate costly and harmful investigations and enforcement actions against colleges and universities to further partisan political ends.

"With the way this Administration has aggressively worked to roll back civil rights protections, its recent claims of wanting to enforce civil rights laws are more than a little fishy," said Attorney General Bonta. "I'm pleased the court has put a temporary stop to the Trump Administration's unprecedented and unrealistic demands for mass troves of education data while we continue to make our case."