Federal Court Strikes Down Education Department Policy on Jay Treaty Student Aid Documentation
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York issued a significant ruling on September 1, 2026, in the case of Rourke-Rodriguez et al. v. U.S. Department of Education. The court granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs, who are members of New York's Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, effectively striking down a U.S. Department of Education (ED) policy. This policy had mandated that American Indian students born in Canada, recognized as Jay Treaty students, obtain specific immigration documents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) before they could qualify for federal student aid. The court vacated the policy in its entirety, meaning these students are no longer required to produce green cards or other DHS documentation to access federal student aid. The challenged policy had quietly replaced a long-standing framework that allowed Jay Treaty students to prove eligibility with readily available documents like band cards, birth records, or Tribal affidavits. The court found ED's new re... 
