Education

OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal court in California declined to dismiss international students’ lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to arrest or deport international students whose immigration records were deleted by federal officials in April. Students on F-1 visas had their SEVIS records terminated in service of the government’s Student Criminal Alien Initiative and ICE ran their names through the National Crime Information Center database. Their lawsuit properly challenges the policy under the Administrative Procedures Act.

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal court dismissed constitutional and civil rights claims brought by a former high school student challenging a school district’s policy allowing transgender students to use restrooms that align with their gender identity. The student alleged the policy violated her privacy and subjected female students to sex discrimination after she encountered a trans girl in the girls’ restroom, but the policy treats all students equally by permitting each to use facilities consistent with their gender identity and therefore does not discriminate on the basis of sex.

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit found that a Texas federal court correctly kept two advocacy groups, Austin Community College and a student from intervening in a lawsuit between the U.S. and Texas concerning whether the state can guarantee in-state tuition for undocumented students at Texas public colleges and universities. Federal law preempts the Texas Dream Act; the state cannot give education benefits to undocumented residents that are not given to all U.S. citizens, so it cannot extend tuition discounts to undocumented students unless in-state tuition is also offered to all citizens.