Democratic States Challenge Trump's Demand for College Race Data

Seventeen Democratic-led states have sued the Trump administration over its demand that colleges and universities provide detailed demographic data on their students, a move that officials say violates federal privacy laws.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, challenges a new policy from the Department of Education that requires colleges to report granular data on the race and ethnicity of their students. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has said the data is needed to monitor compliance with civil rights laws, but the states argue the directive is unconstitutional and exceeds the government's authority.

The states involved in the lawsuit are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

"The Trump administration is forcibly extracting the personal information of countless students across the country in an unconstitutional effort to further its anti-immigrant agenda," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. "We're taking the administration to court to protect students' privacy and our states' rights."

The lawsuit argues that the new data reporting requirements violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law that restricts the disclosure of students' personal information without their consent. It also alleges the directive is an unconstitutional overreach of executive power.

The Department of Education has defended the new policy, saying it is necessary to enforce civil rights laws and that the data would be kept confidential. But the states counter that even if the information is not publicly released, merely collecting it poses privacy risks for students.

"Students shouldn't have to worry that the government is prying into their personal lives or that their sensitive information could be exposed," said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. "This is an alarming abuse of power, and we're fighting back to protect students' rights and their privacy."

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal battles between Democratic-led states and the Trump administration over a range of issues, from immigration to environmental regulations. It comes amid growing concerns about the administration's efforts to roll back protections for marginalized groups.

Education advocates have also criticized the new data collection policy, arguing it could have a chilling effect on college enrollment, particularly among undocumented students or those from immigrant families who may be fearful of disclosing their personal information to the government.

The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to block the policy from taking effect while the case is adjudicated. A hearing on the request is scheduled for early January.