By Catherine Brown, Senior Director, Policy and Advocacy
Reading time: Nine minutes
On day one of his administration and beyond, President Trump signed a long list of executive orders that
will significantly change policies of the US government on wide range of issues. Executive orders (EOs) affect the internal operations and policies of the federal government and have the force of law.
While none of the EOs signed in the first week of the Trump administration directly impact education programs or policies, many will affect the students and families that National College Attainment Network (NCAN) members work with. This blog will delve
into three of those areas: immigration enforcement; diversity, equity, inclusion, and gender; and the federal workforce. Click here for a full list of presidential actions.
Immigration Enforcement
Ending Birthright Citizenship
The most significant immigration EO President Trump issued moves to end birthright citizenship, the right of
every child born in the US to be an American citizen, which has long been understood as guaranteed in the 14th amendment to the US Constitution. This EO describes
two categories in which U.S. citizenship would be denied:
(1) When that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or
(2) When that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student,
work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.
In those instances, the EO directs the federal government to stop issuing documents recognizing citizenship starting on February 19, 2025.
More than 20 states and jurisdictions immediately sued to halt implementation of this EO, which was quickly paused by US District Judge John Coughenour who said in his ruling, "I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is. This is a blatantly unconstitutional
order.”
The injunction issued will last for 14 days, after which the judge will consider whether to issue another, longer, injunction. Trump has vowed to appeal the decision, and experts expect a long legal battle that may ultimately be decided by the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) which last considered this question in 1898. In recent years, SCOTUS has determined – most notably in cases limiting the Biden Administration’s ability to forgive student debt – that the
federal government cannot make decisions about “major questions” without Congress acting to explicitly grant such authority.
House Republicans have introduced legislation to end birthright citizenship, but admit they have a
long road ahead.
Barring Asylum for People at the Southern Border
Trump issued an EO that declared a national emergency on the southern border and shut down the systems allowing
migrants to seek asylum upon entering the US. The CBP One app, a mobile app that enabled migrants seeking asylum to book appointments to appear at eight ports of entry along the southern border, has been taken down. “Existing appointments have been
canceled,” according to US Customs and Border Protection, standing thousands of people, many of whom have been waiting for their appointments for many months.
Halting Refugee Program Indefinitely
Another EO issued by President Trump suspended the refugee
program, halting the resettlement of thousands of people, including 10,000 who had their flights booked and had been cleared for entry to the
United States.
Rescission of Safe Spaces Protection
While not an EO, another newly issued policy change that could profoundly impact students, is the Trump Administration’s rescission of a policy that protected certain areas, including schools, from immigration enforcement activity.
The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) has developed a factsheet and set of recommendations for how to
prepare that include developing a written response plan, designating someone to review warrants, training staff and volunteers on how to respond, and documenting all interactions with immigration enforcement.
Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Gender
President Trump issued directives to terminate all diversity, inclusion, and accessibility programs across the federal government and allow only two genders to be recognized.
Eliminate Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
The order to eliminate diversity, inclusion, and accessibility directs all federal agencies to terminate, “all discriminatory programs,
including illegal diversity, inclusion, and accessibility mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.” Specifically, the order directs agencies to terminate
all, “offices and positions (including but not limited to ‘Chief Diversity Officer’ positions); all ‘equity action plans,’ ‘equity’ actions, initiatives, or programs, ‘equity-related’ grants or contracts; and all diversity, inclusion, and accessibility performance requirements
for employees, contractors, or grantees.”
It also requires agencies to “provide the Director of the [Office of Management and Budget] with a list of all:
(A) Agency or department diversity, inclusion, and accessibility or “environmental justice” positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets, and expenditures in existence on November 4, 2024, and an assessment of whether these positions, committees, programs, services,
activities, budgets, and expenditures have been misleadingly relabeled in an attempt to preserve their pre-November 4, 2024 function;
(B) Federal contractors who have provided diversity, inclusion, and accessibility training or training materials to agency or department employees; and
(C) Federal grantees who received Federal funding to provide or advance diversity, inclusion, and accessibility or “environmental justice” programs, services, or activities since January 20, 2021.”
Deputy agency or department heads are required to, “assess the operational impact…and cost of the [Biden] administration’s diversity, inclusion, and accessibility…programs and policies,” and recommend actions to, “align policies and programs align agency or department programs, activities,
policies, regulations, guidance, employment practices, enforcement activities, contracts (including set-asides), grants, consent orders, and litigating positions with the policy of equal dignity and respect identified in section 1 of this order.”
Agency and department heads are also required to, “discuss any barriers to measures to comply with this order; and monitor and track agency and department progress and identify potential areas for additional Presidential or legislative action.”
Of specific relevance to education, the EO requires agency heads, with the assistance of the Attorney General, to submit a report that identifies:
“(i) Key sectors of concern within each agency’s jurisdiction;
(ii) The most egregious and discriminatory diversity, inclusion, and accessibility practitioners in each sector of concern;
(iii) A plan of specific steps or measures to deter diversity, inclusion, and accessibility programs or principles that constitute illegal discrimination or preferences. As a part of this plan, each agency shall identify up to nine
potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large nonprofit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher
education with endowments over 1 billion dollars;
(iv) Other strategies to encourage the private sector to end illegal diversity, inclusion, and accessibility discrimination and preferences and comply with all Federal civil-rights laws;
(v) Litigation that would be potentially appropriate for Federal lawsuits, intervention, or statements of interest; and
(vi) Potential regulatory action and sub-regulatory guidance.”
In simpler words, this EO directs US Department of Education (ED) officials to identify up to nine potential civil rights violations in large nonprofits, associations, foundations with assets of $500 million or more and/or colleges or universities with
endowments over $1 billion. According to College Raptor, there are almost 130 institutions of higher education that meet that criteria.
ED quickly released guidance detailing how it is implementing this order. This list includes:
Canceling all diversity, inclusion, and accessibility training and service contacts totaling over $2.6 million
Placing all career staff who were working on diversity, inclusion, and accessibility on administrative leave
Removing over 200 diversity, inclusion, and accessibility-related web pages from ED’s web site
Dissolving the ED’s Diversity & Inclusion Council and Employee Engagement Diversity Equity Inclusion Accessibility Council (EEDIAC) within the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and withdrawing the ED’s Equity Action plan.
The order also says, “the Department will continue its comprehensive review of all agency programs and services to identify additional initiatives and working groups that may be advancing a divisive diversity, inclusion, and accessibility agenda, including programs using coded or imprecise
language to disguise their activity. Careful review of all public sites and media channels for diversity, inclusion, and accessibility language and resources will also continue.”
Defining Gender
President Trump released an EO stating that it is the policy
of the federal government to recognize only two genders with the following definitions:
“Female” means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell.
“Male” means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell.
The order directs agencies to use “sex” and not “gender,” directs the US Departments of State and Homeland Security, the Office of Personnel Management, and other federal agencies to require all identification documents, personnel records, and other federal
forms to list male or female as the person’s sex. It also requires agencies to remove, “all statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications, or other internal and external messages that promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology, and…
cease issuing such statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications or other messages.” It also rescinds all federal guidance that is inconsistent with this order, including the following ED resources:
Creating Inclusive and Nondiscriminatory School Environments for LGBTQI+ Students
Supporting LGBTQI+ Youth and Families in School
Supporting Transgender Youth in School
Letter to Educators on Title IX’s 49th Anniversary
Confronting Anti-LGBTQI+ Harassment in Schools: A Resource for Students and Families.
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
President Trump also released a number of EOs that will impact the federal workforce. He implemented a federal hiring freeze for 90 days to allow for
submission of a, “plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition.” In the first Trump Administration, ED had a multi-year hiring freeze.
Another order required all federal employees to return to in-person work on a full-time basis “as soon as practicable.” This order allows department
and agency heads to make exemptions they deem necessary and says it will be implemented consistently with the law. Many federal agencies and offices operate with collective bargaining agreements that include the right to remote work so the full extent
of this order is yet to be known.
The Administration also imposed a regulatory freeze pending review prohibiting any agencies from issuing a rule until the new department
head approves it, and to immediately withdraw any pending rules. ED has already withdrawn several student loan plans that
were still in the approval process so it is unclear what guidance will be affected by this order.
Resources for Tracking EOs and Other Presidential Actions
Here are some resources that may be helpful in better tracking and understand Trump’s many actions:
All EOs are posted here on the White House web site
The National Council of Nonprofits has created a tracker to document and explain EOs that could impact charitable nonprofits. This
resource will be updated frequently.
The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) has categorized EOs and actions by focus on immigration, diversity programs,
gender, and climate, and Biden Administration recissions.
We are still analyzing these orders to understand the full extent of their impact on the students we serve. We will continue to track these issues’ impact on our students and share resources that may be helpful to you. Questions? Please don’t hesitate
to reach out to me at brownc@ncan.org.
For more federal policy updates and opportunities for engagement, sign up for NCAN's Rapid Response Policy Team, or register for our 2025 Leadership Summit to make your voice heard on Capitol Hill!
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