The US Department of Education announced on Thursday that it would be amending its public service loan forgiveness programme to exclude organisations that engage in "aiding and abetting violations of federal immigration laws" and "engage in unlawful activities".
Non-profit organisation workers and public service employees deemed to be guilty of either will be barred from the forgiveness of student loans. The rule will be implemented on July 1, 2026.
Reports, however, stated that the language used to define this criteria seemed to indicate that those organisations that work with immigrants and transgender people may be under governmental scrutiny.
The department said that preferences "will not be made based on the political views or policy preferences of the organization".
Despite this statement, the US' definition of a terrorist group has also been influenced by ideology as Trump had said that he would designate Antifa (an organisation whose agenda is to oppose fascism) a terror group.
While the child abuse section of 'illegal activities' in the rule includes the phrase "trafficking children to transgender sanctuary states", which seems to indicate that any guardian taking a child to a state with pro-transgender legislation may be excluded.
Reports also cited the Education Department saying that nonprofit organisations that advocate for immigrants or represent them in court will still be eligible.
The amendment is the latest instance of the Trump administration including immigration-related conditions to long-running federal programmes. Close to 43 million US citizens have federal student loan debt, according to data from the non-partisan Congressional Research Service.
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