SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House in Washington, D.C. on August 16, 2018. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
'A New Low': Betsy DeVos Sued for Garnishing Wages of Nearly 300,000 Student Loan Borrowers During Pandemic
"The Trump administration is taking money from borrowers who are living on the edge of poverty, in the middle of a pandemic, and in violation of the law."
May 01, 2020
A home health aide who earns just under $13 per hour is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed Thursday against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose department has continued garnishing the wages of hundreds of thousands of student loan borrowers in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The CARES Act, which was signed into law in late March, prohibits the Education Department from seizing the wages and tax refunds of student loan borrowers who have defaulted on their loans.
But Elizabeth Barber of Rochester, New York, says the Trump administration has nonetheless continued to take 12% of her paychecks since the legislation passed--garnishing $70 from her check as recently as last week--adding to the financial strain which forced her to default on $10,000 in federal loans in December. Barber's hours have also been reduced by 10 to 15 hours per week since the coronavirus pandemic began.
"I am so worried about how I will get through this," Barber said in a statement. "I have no money in the bank. I need every dollar I earn at work to survive each day, but my hours have been cut because of the virus. I don't understand why the government keeps taking my money away after it passed a law that says they will stop."
The lawsuit was filed late Thursday, with legal advocacy group Student Defense and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) representing Barber and about 285,000 other Americans whose wages have been garnished in the past six weeks.
The CARES Act gave relief to borrowers from wage garnishment until Sept. 30. But across the country, employers including Barber's have not yet been formally advised by the Trump administration to stop withholding as much as 15% of employees' paychecks and sending the garnished wages to the government.
The Education Department claims the borrowers will be refunded the garnished wages if they were collected after March 13, but has offered no information about when they will see those refunds.
The lawsuit "captures a new low" in DeVos's leadership, tweeted Student Defense on Friday.
"Right now, low-wage workers hit hardest by the economic impact of the pandemic need their paychecks to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads," said Persis Yu, director of the NCLC's Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project. "By continuing to use its harsh collection tools during this public health and economic crisis, the Department of Education is placing the health, safety, and well-being of vulnerable student loan borrowers in peril."
In a letter to DeVos sent on April 16, Democratic lawmakers including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) demanded information about the wage garnishment which has persisted despite being illegal under the CARES Act and called the secretary's failure to stop the practice "unconscionable."
"The Trump administration is taking money from borrowers who are living on the edge of poverty, in the middle of a pandemic, and in violation of the law," said Seth Frotman, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, which is supporting the lawsuit. "This lawsuit shines light on how she has been operating a student debt collection machine that is accountable to no one--and it must be stopped."
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A home health aide who earns just under $13 per hour is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed Thursday against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose department has continued garnishing the wages of hundreds of thousands of student loan borrowers in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The CARES Act, which was signed into law in late March, prohibits the Education Department from seizing the wages and tax refunds of student loan borrowers who have defaulted on their loans.
But Elizabeth Barber of Rochester, New York, says the Trump administration has nonetheless continued to take 12% of her paychecks since the legislation passed--garnishing $70 from her check as recently as last week--adding to the financial strain which forced her to default on $10,000 in federal loans in December. Barber's hours have also been reduced by 10 to 15 hours per week since the coronavirus pandemic began.
"I am so worried about how I will get through this," Barber said in a statement. "I have no money in the bank. I need every dollar I earn at work to survive each day, but my hours have been cut because of the virus. I don't understand why the government keeps taking my money away after it passed a law that says they will stop."
The lawsuit was filed late Thursday, with legal advocacy group Student Defense and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) representing Barber and about 285,000 other Americans whose wages have been garnished in the past six weeks.
The CARES Act gave relief to borrowers from wage garnishment until Sept. 30. But across the country, employers including Barber's have not yet been formally advised by the Trump administration to stop withholding as much as 15% of employees' paychecks and sending the garnished wages to the government.
The Education Department claims the borrowers will be refunded the garnished wages if they were collected after March 13, but has offered no information about when they will see those refunds.
The lawsuit "captures a new low" in DeVos's leadership, tweeted Student Defense on Friday.
"Right now, low-wage workers hit hardest by the economic impact of the pandemic need their paychecks to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads," said Persis Yu, director of the NCLC's Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project. "By continuing to use its harsh collection tools during this public health and economic crisis, the Department of Education is placing the health, safety, and well-being of vulnerable student loan borrowers in peril."
In a letter to DeVos sent on April 16, Democratic lawmakers including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) demanded information about the wage garnishment which has persisted despite being illegal under the CARES Act and called the secretary's failure to stop the practice "unconscionable."
"The Trump administration is taking money from borrowers who are living on the edge of poverty, in the middle of a pandemic, and in violation of the law," said Seth Frotman, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, which is supporting the lawsuit. "This lawsuit shines light on how she has been operating a student debt collection machine that is accountable to no one--and it must be stopped."
A home health aide who earns just under $13 per hour is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed Thursday against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose department has continued garnishing the wages of hundreds of thousands of student loan borrowers in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The CARES Act, which was signed into law in late March, prohibits the Education Department from seizing the wages and tax refunds of student loan borrowers who have defaulted on their loans.
But Elizabeth Barber of Rochester, New York, says the Trump administration has nonetheless continued to take 12% of her paychecks since the legislation passed--garnishing $70 from her check as recently as last week--adding to the financial strain which forced her to default on $10,000 in federal loans in December. Barber's hours have also been reduced by 10 to 15 hours per week since the coronavirus pandemic began.
"I am so worried about how I will get through this," Barber said in a statement. "I have no money in the bank. I need every dollar I earn at work to survive each day, but my hours have been cut because of the virus. I don't understand why the government keeps taking my money away after it passed a law that says they will stop."
The lawsuit was filed late Thursday, with legal advocacy group Student Defense and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) representing Barber and about 285,000 other Americans whose wages have been garnished in the past six weeks.
The CARES Act gave relief to borrowers from wage garnishment until Sept. 30. But across the country, employers including Barber's have not yet been formally advised by the Trump administration to stop withholding as much as 15% of employees' paychecks and sending the garnished wages to the government.
The Education Department claims the borrowers will be refunded the garnished wages if they were collected after March 13, but has offered no information about when they will see those refunds.
The lawsuit "captures a new low" in DeVos's leadership, tweeted Student Defense on Friday.
"Right now, low-wage workers hit hardest by the economic impact of the pandemic need their paychecks to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads," said Persis Yu, director of the NCLC's Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project. "By continuing to use its harsh collection tools during this public health and economic crisis, the Department of Education is placing the health, safety, and well-being of vulnerable student loan borrowers in peril."
In a letter to DeVos sent on April 16, Democratic lawmakers including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) demanded information about the wage garnishment which has persisted despite being illegal under the CARES Act and called the secretary's failure to stop the practice "unconscionable."
"The Trump administration is taking money from borrowers who are living on the edge of poverty, in the middle of a pandemic, and in violation of the law," said Seth Frotman, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, which is supporting the lawsuit. "This lawsuit shines light on how she has been operating a student debt collection machine that is accountable to no one--and it must be stopped."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy