Trump Administration Freezes $6 Billion in Education Grants Amid Misuse Allegations

The Trump administration has accused states and schools of misusing federal education grants intended for immigrants’ children and low-income students to support what it describes as “a radical leftwing agenda.” The administration has withheld over $6 billion in grants earmarked for after-school and summer programs, English language instruction, adult literacy, and other educational initiatives. This freeze has caused significant uncertainty among schools and summer camp providers, who are now scrambling to determine whether they can continue to offer programs such as day camps and after-hours child care.

On Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget released a statement indicating that an initial review of the grants revealed that some funds were used to support immigrants without legal status or to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion. The administration emphasized that no final decisions have been made regarding the withholding or release of individual grants. The Office of Management and Budget stated that “many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda.”

Specific examples cited by the administration include New York schools using funds for English language instruction to promote organizations advocating for immigrants without legal status. Washington state was accused of directing immigrants without legal status toward scholarships intended for American students. Additionally, grant funds were used for a seminar on “queer resistance in the arts.” Officials from New York and Washington state did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Advocates for low-income and immigrant children have connected the grant freeze to the broader crackdown on immigrants by the Trump administration. Two of the five federal programs put on hold were specifically allocated by Congress to support the English proficiency of students still learning the language and migrant children who move with their parents to follow agricultural and other jobs. School districts use the $890 million earmarked for English learners for various purposes, including training teachers’ aides, running summer schools, and hiring family liaisons who speak the parents’ native languages. The $375 million allocated for migrant education is often used to hire dedicated teachers to travel close to where students live.

Critics argue that the administration is “cherrypicking extreme examples” to conflate all students learning English with those who are in the country illegally. Amaya Garcia, who directs education research at a left-leaning think tank, stated that the majority of English learners in public schools were born in the United States. Margarita Machado-Casas, president of the National Association of Bilingual Educators, described the administration’s framing as a distraction from the actual impact on the 5.3 million English learners who speak various languages, not just Spanish.

Even if the students lack legal status, states may not deny public education to children in the country illegally under a 1982 Supreme Court decision known as Plyler v. Doe. Conservative politicians in various states have pursued policies questioning whether immigrants without legal residency should have the right to a public education, raising the possibility of challenges to that landmark ruling. Meanwhile, states and school districts are still trying to understand the implications for their students and staff if these funds are not released.

In Oregon, eliminating grants for English learners and migrant students would “undermine the state’s efforts to increase academic outcomes for multilingual students, promote multilingualism, close opportunity gaps and provide targeted support to mobile and vulnerable student groups,” according to a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Education. The freeze on these grants has created a climate of uncertainty, with schools and educational providers awaiting further clarification from the administration on the status of the withheld funds.