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Trump’s justice department is weaponizing civil rights laws against students of color | ReNika Moore

The Department of Justice’s civil rights division was once known as the crown jewel of the agency, but under Trump it has become just another tool of this administration’s politicized and racialized attacks targeting Black, Latino and other people of color. The latest examples are the sham findings of discrimination the division issued against the medical schools of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Yale University for admitting high-achieving Black and Hispanic students. The administration is cynically wielding its anti-discrimination authority to tear down civil rights advances at the cost of equal educational opportunity.

In its findings, the justice department claimed the grades and test scores of Black and Hispanic admitted applicants were less competitive than those of white and Asian admits and said the schools intentionally discriminated against white and Asian applicants. But the justice department’s conclusions overstate the difference in scores between applicants and ignore other applicant data completely, including student transcripts, letters of recommendations and essays. The differences among GPAs and test scores – one standard deviation or less – were too small to be legally or statistically significant and may be explained by random factors unrelated to race. Comparatively, two standard deviations is the commonly accepted threshold that federal courts and social scientists consider statistically significant in racial discrimination cases.

The justice department’s focus on small average differences in student test scores and GPAs based on their race mistakes correlation for causation, and itself reduces the issue to race. The justice department fails to account for the numerous other factors, such as socioeconomic status or geography, that might impact test scores and GPAs. And other parts of a student’s application may highlight other capabilities that a student brings to campus.

Critically, the justice department misconstrues Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard (SFFA) and suggests in its findings that SFFA bars any consideration of race in the admissions process. SFFA permits schools to take into account obstacles and opportunities faced by individual students, including those related to race. Thus, schools are not required to ignore the persistent racial inequalities that Black, Latino, and other students of color face in our schools. In fact, to do so would discount qualities of determination and perseverance that these candidates bring.

In the case of UCLA, for example, Black and Hispanic students in California face systemic headwinds in high school and college compared to other students. California schools that serve predominantly Black and Hispanic student populations are more likely to lack the resources proven to lead to high school and college success, such as experienced teachers, default college prep curriculum, and dual enrollment programs that allow high school students to take classes at local colleges and universities.

Black students in California face some of the highest levels of economic insecurity in higher education. A 2023 survey by the California Student Aid Commission found that 78% of Black college students in California experienced food insecurity and 65% experienced housing insecurity, the highest rates of any racial group in the state. Latino students also face significant challenges: nearly six out of 10 Latino students work while attending college, more than any racial group in the state. And, while a job allows a student to support themselves and pay for college, educators have found that it can hurt students’ grades, especially low-income students – that is, the students who often most need to work. The obstacles Black and Hispanic students face in California mirror challenges seen across the country, yet the justice department findings ignore the circumstances of individual students and inequalities in educational resources and support.

While this administration manufactures claims of discrimination, it has completely abandoned its legal obligation to investigate and remedy meritorious complaints of discrimination from students across the country.

Over the past year, Trump has cut nearly half of the Department of Education’s office for civil rights (OCR) staff and closed seven of 12 regional offices, severely disrupting investigations and leaving thousands of student complaints unresolved. A report found that despite OCR receiving a record number of civil rights complaints in 2025, Trump’s OCR reached just 112 resolution agreements – the fewest in at least 12 years. And none of those resolution agreements involved racial harassment, discriminatory school discipline, sexual harassment, sexual violence, or seclusion or restraint. As a result, students have been left without the protections they are guaranteed under federal law.

The administration continues to twist civil rights laws – meant to foster a more inclusive society – to instead exclude certain groups. Besides Yale and UCLA, the justice department has pending investigations into medical school admissions at Stanford, Ohio State and the University of California, San Diego. Yale defended its admissions processes as legal and based on academic achievement and personal commitment, as did UCLA. Other colleges and universities must stand against similar attacks and remain committed to equal opportunity for all students including Black, Hispanic, and other students of color.