Civil rights group files discrimination complaint against CA universities

A civil rights group has filed a federal discrimination complaint with the House of Representatives US Department of Justice on Monday alleging that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and “undocumented” programs on California college campuses illegally exclude U.S.-born students.

Complaint submitted by Equal Protection Project (EPP) from the Legal Insurrection Foundation, and first shared with Fox News Digital, is asking the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to launch “a formal investigation into the University of California, California State University, California Community Colleges and 138 participating public colleges and universities in California,” alleging that they are violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — which prohibits educational institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin — and equality. The Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

In a letter to Assistant Public Prosecutor Harmeet K. Dillon, EPP lawyers say the programs provide benefits limited to DACA recipients and “undocumented” students, effectively excluding American-born students. attached document It lists links to campus programs that describe services such as “dedicated funding, staffing, counseling, advocacy, and other supports.”

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A civil rights organization filed a discrimination complaint on December 1, 2025, alleging that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and “undocumented” programs at 138 California campuses discriminate against American-born students. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Examples in the complaint include UC Berkeley Undocumented Student Programwhich the university says has been around since 2012 and “serves approximately 500 students annually” by offering “counseling, financial support, mental health support, legal support, and professional development opportunities” to undocumented students.

The EPP’s letter urges the Justice Department to “immediately” open a formal investigation into what it calls “systematic discrimination against U.S.-born students” at public colleges and universities in California, and to take legal action to secure “appropriate remedial relief” if violations are found.

“California’s largest higher education systems have decided that American-born students do not deserve equal treatment on par with DACA and undocumented students,” William Jacobson, president of EPP and a Cornell Law School professor, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “This systemic discrimination calls for action by the U.S. Department of Justice to enforce civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees of equal protection.”

The EPP is a nonprofit organization that “seeks to ensure equal protection under the law by opposing unlawful discrimination,” Jacobson said. The group says it has objected to more than 600 programs and scholarships it considers discriminatory at more than 125 colleges and universities nationwide.

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The Equal Protection Project has challenged hundreds of college programs it considers discriminatory across the country. (Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

“This is state-sponsored discrimination, so it can’t be fixed at the state level,” Jacobson continued. “If the federal government does not act, discrimination against American-born students throughout California higher education will continue unabated.”

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was created by the former president Barack Obama To provide temporary protection from deportation and work authorization for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children.

Jacobson stressed that the complaint does not challenge the inclusion of “Dreamer” or “undocumented” students in these programs, but instead challenges the exclusion of American-born students, arguing that the programs should be equally available to them.

“As a California native Timothy R. said: Snowball, the EPP’s chief lawyer, told Fox News Digital: “With degrees from a community college and from UC Berkeley, I am appalled by the discrimination against American-born students. If our institutions of higher education discriminate against American-born students, how can we trust those institutions to educate the next generation of leaders?”

“I was a high school dropout, and I know exactly what it means to need extra support to become successful University student“Tutoring programs, career counseling, and financial aid are an important part of this process,” he continued. “But these benefits should never be withheld from American-born students in favor of DACA or ‘undocumented’ students.”

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The Department of Justice received a complaint from a civil rights group regarding California higher education programs for students born outside the United States. (Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

“I feel civically honored to file this complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice against both my alma mater, Grossmont College, and my alma mater, UC Berkeley,” Snowball added. “I support the principles of equality and equal protection that these institutions once embraced but now betray.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the University of California, California State University and California community college systems for comment but did not immediately receive responses.

on CSU websiteIt says it supports undocumented students by providing “many resources, from grants, loans, and scholarships to legal support and campus services, including dedicated Dream Centers staffed full-time.”

“We seek support for our Dreamers and DACA recipients — and those across the country — to honor their humanity, and remove unfair and inequitable barriers that stand between them and realizing their personal and professional dreams,” Mildred Garcia, a CSU advisor, said in a 2024 statement in defense of these programs. “This is what CSU stands for — and this is what we do — and on a larger scale than any other university system in the world.”

The Equal Protection Project made a similar request Complaint in May against the Dreamer’s Pathway Scholarship Program at the University of Nebraska Omaha, claiming that it also violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Fox News’ Rachel Del Guidice contributed to this report.