San Francisco and Santa Clara County are part of a national coalition suing the U.S. Department of Education. They say its changes to a federal loan forgiveness program are illegal.
The program forgives public service employees’ loans after they submit 120 payments while working full-time at a government agency or a nonprofit.
But under the Department of Education’s new rule, organizations will fail to qualify for the program if they engage in “unlawful activities” which include “abetting illegal immigration” and supporting gender transition for minors.
The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit on Monday. They argue that this change is an illegal and politically-motivated weaponization of the program.
"Trump administration's attempt to strip that right that these workers have — that benefit that they were counting on and relying on — is egregious," said Tony LoPresti, Santa Clara’s County Counsel. "And I think will have a direct impact on the county's ability to attract talent."
He says the county has 24,000 public service employees.
Santa Clara County has coordinated this effort with San Francisco.
