The U.S. Justice Department said Friday it will no longer defend a decades-old federal program that funnels about $350 million a year to colleges and universities where at least 25 percent of undergraduates are Hispanic, declaring the grants unconstitutional. In a letter to Congress dated July 25, Solicitor General John Sauer cited the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision restricting race-based considerations, writing that the program’s reliance on “outright racial balancing” violates the Constitution. The move leaves the Education Department without government backing in a lawsuit brought by the state of Tennessee and the anti-affirmative-action group Students for Fair Admissions, which argue the program unfairly withholds funding from institutions that do not meet the Hispanic-enrollment threshold. By refusing to defend the policy, the administration effectively aligns itself with the plaintiffs and heightens the odds the court will strike down the grants, potentially imperiling similar initiatives across the federal government. More than 500 colleges—among them Arizona State University, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and hundreds of community colleges—hold the Hispanic-Serving Institution designation and compete for the money to finance building projects, academic programs and student support services. The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities has asked to intervene in the case, warning that loss of the grants would deepen funding gaps for schools enrolling two-thirds of the nation’s Latino undergraduates.