California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued guidance clarifying that state and federal civil rights protections remain legal and enforceable, despite recent federal actions challenging antidiscrimination enforcement.
The Trump administration has targeted longstanding civil rights protections in executive orders, agency memoranda, and guidance, describing them as illegal, Bonta said. These actions have created confusion among workers, students, tenants, homebuyers, and healthcare patients, he said.
Neither the President nor federal agencies can rewrite laws passed by Congress or use executive orders to change protections provided under the Constitution or federal and state laws, Bonta stated.
The guidance reaffirms that civil rights laws have long protected against both intentional discrimination and disparate impact—actions that, while appearing neutral on their face, have a disproportionate effect on certain groups. Enforcement of disparate impact liability increases equal opportunity across housing, lending, language access, employment, education, disaster preparedness, and other sectors, the guidance states.
Bonta said proactive measures by businesses and institutions to remove unjustified barriers and ensure equitable opportunities are legal and cost-effective.
Attorney General Bonta issued the guidance in partnership with attorneys general from Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Bonta has submitted opposition letters to multiple federal agency proposals to rescind or amend regulations implementing civil rights law, arguing the proposals violate the Administrative Procedure Act and contradict more than 50 years of civil rights law.