U.S. Department of Education Seeks to Undermine Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs
1:15 p.m., February 18, 2025
On February 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education issued a “Dear Colleague” letter that has been widely reported as threatening federal funding for educational institutions with diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Santa Monica College’s DEI efforts are in compliance with both federal and state law and no action is required in response to the letter. As the letter plainly states: “This guidance does not have the force and effect of law and does not bind the public or create new legal standards.” Indeed, many of the positions taken in the letter are unsupported by legal precedent. As PEN America stated in response:
The administration’s outrageous “Dear Colleague” letter seeks to declare it a civil rights violation for educational institutions to engage in any diversity-related programming or to promote any diversity-related ideas – potentially including everything from a panel on the Civil Rights Movement to a Lunar New Year celebration. This declaration has no basis in law and is an affront to the freedom of speech and ideas in educational settings. It represents yet another twisting of civil rights law in an effort to demand ideological conformity by schools and universities and to do away with critical inquiry about race and identity. (PEN America's Press Statement)
Guidance Concerning Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Employment Initiatives
4:15 p.m., February 13, 2025
On February 13, 2025, the Attorneys General of Massachusetts, Illinois, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont issued guidance to help businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations navigate the Trump administration’s ant-DEI executive orders. Entitled Multi-State Guidance Concerning Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Employment Initiatives, the document states:
“Importantly, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility best practices are not illegal, and the federal government does not have the legal authority to issue an executive order that prohibits otherwise lawful activities in the private sector or mandates the wholesale removal of these policies and practices within private organizations, including those that receive federal contracts and grants.”
The Legality of Sanctuary Laws
10:09 a.m., February 13, 2025
The Trump Administration has filed lawsuits against Illinois and New York seeking to declare state laws barring cooperation with immigration authorities invalid under the Supremacy Clause.
UCLA School of Law Professor Ahilan Arulanantham has written about the legality of sanctuary law in an article entitled “What Just Happened: Sanctuary Policies and the DOJ Memo’s Empty Threat of Criminal Liability.” In it, he concludes that laws like the California Values Act are legal:
"So are sanctuary laws illegal? Under current law, the answer is clearly “no,” at least as to the kinds of non-cooperation provisions found in typical sanctuary laws like California’s—rules that limit the gathering of immigration-related information, refuse compliance with federal detainer requests, and prohibit most other common forms of cooperation with federal immigration enforcement."
Santa Monica College’s noncooperation with federal immigration enforcement as required by the California Values Act should withstand legal scrutiny.