EPP complaints prompt federal probes into 'Dreamer' scholarships

The Equal Protection Project (EPP) has filed two civil rights complaints against the University of Michigan and the University of Miami over scholarships for illegal immigrants.

The conservative watchdog organization filed the complaints on Monday.

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The complaint against Miami argues that the school’s U Dreamers Program violates federal prohibitions against discrimination based on national origin, since “Dreamers” are by definition non-Americans.

According to the university’s website, the scholarship is “available to eligible first-year and transfer DACA and undocumented applicants seeking to enroll in the fall semester.”

“Because DACA only applies to persons born outside the United States who meet certain additional criteria, restricting scholarship eligibility to DACA recipients constitutes discrimination based on national origin and violates Title VI,” the complaint says.

“Similarly, ‘undocumented’ status only applies to students born outside the United States,” it continues. “This scholarship discriminates against American-born students.”

Likewise, the complaint against Michigan cites a university program called the Dreamer Scholarship, which is “intended to support undocumented students or students with DACA status.”

“The university has received a letter of notification relating to this matter,” Kay Jarvis, Michigan’s Director of Public Affairs, told Campus Reform. “We have no further comment.”

The Office for Civil Rights first announced investigations into the two schools the same day as the complaint was made, according to letters published by EPP.

The Department of Education also published a press release on Wednesday announcing the two investigations, as well as three others into universities that the EPP has accused of awarding scholarships that violate Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

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The three other schools are the University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha, and Western Michigan University.

“[W]e are expanding our enforcement efforts to protect American students and lawful residents from invidious national origin discrimination of the kind alleged here,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in the department’s press release.

Since EPP made the complaint against the University of Nebraska Omaha in May, the school appears to have removed the Dreamers Pathway Scholarship from its website.

Campus Reform has contacted the University of Michigan and the University of Miami for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.