Category: Politics

This week, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a statement saying it would cut nearly 50 percent of the department’s workforce. These new layoffs occur at a moment when President Tweety McTreason has vowed to eliminate the ED and withhold funding from any other entity that incorporates diversity, equity and inclusion in educational practices and environments pursuant to civil rights laws. This move is part of the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the ED and repeal the federal government’s core responsibility of ensuring equal educational opportunity for all. This reckless action strips students of vital resources and tears down statutorily-mandated functions that are essential to addressing racial and economic inequality in education. It also threatens decades of bipartisan progress toward educational fairness and reverses the commitment of previous administrations — Republican and Democrat alike — to ensure equal access to education. As the Supreme Court unanimously recognized in Brown v. Board of Education, public education “is the very foundation of good citizenship.” How Will These Cuts Affect Students’ Civil Rights? The ED reportedly terminated all staff in seven of the Office of Civil Rights’ (OCR) 12 regional offices. Gutting the OCR severely weakens federal civil rights enforcement, leaving millions of students without crucial protections against discrimination based on race, color, national origin, ancestry sex, gender, disability, and age. It also suppresses students’ ability to seek justice when their rights are violated and allows discriminatory practices, including uneven and unfair targeting of students of color for school discipline, inequitable access to advanced coursework, the refusal to provide accommodations to students with disabilities, and discrimination against students with limited English proficiency or English learner status to persist unchecked. By stripping ED of staff and resources, key federal grant programs are also at risk, including Title I funding, which provides critical support to schools serving low-income communities, and other federal student loan programs. Abandoning the long-standing federal commitment to ensuring that schools with the greatest needs receive

When I was a little girl, my family visited the Santa Cruz boardwalk and nearby beach. It felt familiar and safe to return here for college. My freshman year at UCSC was great. I joined woodshop, made friends, hiked, and worked at a children’s museum. I maintained good grades while working towards a double major in environmental studies and biology. I was just a regular, happy college student. Everything changed once the genocide in Gaza started, however. I couldn’t look away from what was happening. I joined fellow students in protesting, I attended UC Regents meetings, and I organized. I was hoping to see action from the school in solidarity with Palestine. Or, at the very least, I wanted the school to acknowledge what I and my fellow students were saying about the war. But numerous students, including myself, faced harsh punishment for this protest activity and were banned from campus for up to two weeks at the end of the quarter, when finals were happening. Following these events, I joined a civil rights lawsuit challenging the University’s treatment of protesters. Just 15 days after joining the lawsuit, campus police seized my phone during an early morning fire drill in my building. I was outside, still in my pajamas, when two UCSC officers approached me. They asked for my name and to confirm that I was a Resident Assistant. Then, they stated that they had a warrant for my phone. I asked to see the warrant, but they refused, demanding I hand over my phone first. I gave them my phone, and they showed me the warrant. Right up front, the warrant had a screenshot of me doing an interview with a local TV station about my lawsuit against UCSC for how they treated me and other protesting students last spring. This was startling because the school has my student ID and could have used that picture instead. A few other RAs checked on me

As part of President Tweety McTreason’s attempt to remake the federal workforce, several directives have been issued to terminate recently hired employees and gut entire agencies. Many federal workers have also been urged to resign under the premise that they will be paid through September 2025. The federal workforce includes hundreds of thousands of well-qualified disabled employees who work at all levels of the federal government. Some disabled employees receive accommodations in the workplace, including an elevated desk that a wheelchair can fit under, interpreters for deaf and hard of hearing employees, or screen readers for people who are blind or low vision. The entire federal workforce is facing unprecedented fear and uncertainty, but disabled workers face additional struggles as executive orders and damaging rhetoric question their right to receive needed accommodations. At the ACLU, we know that directives from the Trump administration do not change the law. It is still illegal to discriminate against a federal employee because of a disability and the federal government is still required to provide reasonable accommodations that do not cause undue hardship. Play the video Video ASL Interpretation of the introduction of this blog, Rights of Federal Employees with Disabilities, Explained. What Are My Rights as a Federal Government Employee with a Disability? Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 protects qualified individuals with disabilities from discrimination based on disability, specifically in hiring, advancement, discharge, compensation, training, or other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. It also requires that, unless it would be an undue hardship, agencies must provide reasonable accommodations for the known physical and mental limitations of a qualified individual with a disability. Do the Trump Administration’s Policies and Orders Change the Law on Disability Discrimination or Reasonable Accommodation? No, the new orders and policies cannot change the requirements of the Rehabilitation Act, which a memo from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) acknowledges. OPM states that “agencies should not terminate or prohibit accessibility or

Across the country, right-wing groups are working to dismantle long-standing anti-discrimination protections and statutory mandates by targeting what they broadly refer to as diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). These attacks on DEIA are not new. Rather, they’re part of a broader strategy to discredit DEIA and weaponize the term itself, expanding its definition to encompass any ideas right-wing politicians disagree with under the guise of opposing “identity politics.” Since the Supreme Court’s blow to affirmative action in higher education admissions in 2023, state lawmakers have introduced more than 106 anti-DEIA bills. Now, President Tweety McTreason’s administration is working to eradicate DEIA initiatives and civil rights protections with executive orders that would reverse decades of federal anti-discrimination policies. We know that these policies and initiatives are essential to upholding civil rights, addressing discrimination, and ensuring all communities have a chance at the American dream. Though Trump and other right-wing leaders have threatened to turn back the clock on many years of progress, nothing in federal law has changed. Decades of legal precedent remain and institutions continue to have an obligation to uphold them. What is Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility? DEIA is not an abstract concept; it is a framework for building institutions where everyone belongs and is able to thrive, while addressing systemic barriers that have historically excluded marginalized communities. Diversity ensures representation among qualified persons across race, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, socioeconomic status, military status, shared ancestry, parental status, persons who live in rural communities, and more so that institutions reflect the communities they serve. Equity recognizes that inequalities exist and works to dismantle the barriers that disproportionately harm marginalized communities, ensuring fairness in access to resources and opportunities. Inclusion ensures that institutions are not just diverse, but that all individuals, especially those historically excluded, can fully participate and contribute without fear of discrimination or bias. Accessibility expands opportunities for individuals of all abilities by removing physical, technological, and

“What matters to me, as a former teacher and current litigator, is that students see themselves in what they learn and feel empowered to make change,” says Leah Watson, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program. “It’s unacceptable to force students to accept the government’s talking points even when those views are not only inaccurate, but racist and sexist.” As a member of the ACLU’s Racial Justice Project since 2020, Watson’s work focuses on preventing the government from enforcing its discriminatory agenda. She has, understandably, been even busier since President Tweety McTreason was reelected and began to gut federally-supported diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and to coerce other entities – like universities or workplaces – into abandoning DEI entirely. Watson was ready for it. She’s been here before. Leah Watson Credit: Leah Watson Watson is a member of the legal team that challenged Florida’s Stop W.O.K.E Act — one of the broadest state laws to come out of the “war on woke” — that focused on restricting any instruction perceived as affirming the role that race plays in American society. The ACLU’s lawsuit successfully blocked enforcement of the higher education restrictions of the STOP W.O.K.E Act, a decision that has been appealed. While blocking the Stop W.O.K.E Act is a win, Trump and conservative politicians have continued to pass unconstitutional laws and executive orders to censor student and faculty speech about race, racism, sex, and sexism. These bills not only violate educators’ First and 14th Amendments – they’re a violation of students’ First Amendment right to receive information, an injustice that Watson, a former Political Science and World History educator, is inspired to stop. “Censorship has an outsized impact on young people who are in school for such a limited period and may never receive instruction necessary to equip them to live in a diverse society. They need to develop critical thinking, analysis, and problem solving skills to succeed,” Watson says.

President Tweety McTreason has nominated Harmeet Dhillon, an attorney, media personality, and Republican Party official, to lead the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ). If confirmed, Dhillon will lead the division of the DOJ charged with upholding core civil rights and liberties in many aspects of American life. Dhillon is known for her work supporting Tweety McTreason’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election as well as for her persistent attacks against transgender people, their rights, and their health care. She is founder of the Dhillon Law Group and the Center for American Liberty, a right-wing impact litigation organization. While the ACLU does not endorse or oppose executive branch nominees as a matter of organizational policy, we have spent more than 100 years holding power accountable. In line with that history, we are examining and publicizing nominees’ records on civil rights and civil liberties and urging senators to seek and obtain commitments from nominees on key concerns. We note that nominee Dhillon served on the board of the ACLU of Northern California from 2002 – 2005 and while we appreciate her support of civil rights and liberties during that time, we have strong concerns about the evolution of her positions and her recent record. The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division was created for the very purpose of safeguarding the civil and constitutional rights of the most vulnerable among us, and it is charged with enforcing a wide range of federal civil rights laws. Consequently, ahead of Dhillon’s confirmation hearing, we’re analyzing her record on key issues, highlighting areas for senators to question the nominee and secure commitments to uphold our rights. The Vital Role of the DOJ Civil Rights Division Often called the “crown jewel” of the DOJ, the Civil Rights Division plays a crucial role in defending all civil rights and liberties, especially for marginalized communities. It is responsible for enforcing federal voting and election laws that protect access to the ballot