WASHINGTON >> The Education Department will prohibit colleges from granting emergency assistance to students who entered the country illegally, even those known as Dreamers who are under federal protection, according to guidance issued to colleges and universities Tuesday.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos ordered higher education institutions to dole out more than $6 billion in emergency relief only to students who are eligible for federal financial aid, including U.S. citizens or legal residents. The directive effectively excluded tens of thousands of students who are living in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, an Obama-era policy that protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.

President Donald Trump has moved to end the program, but that effort is awaiting Supreme Court review.

The measure will compound the challenges facing these students, whose families have also been excluded from aid like stimulus checks for individuals and unemployment insurance, said Miriam Feldblum, executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, which advocates on behalf of immigrant students.

In a recent survey of more than 1,600 students, conducted by the organization TheDream.US, a national scholarship organization for Dreamers, 80% of those working have experienced income loss, said Candy Marshall, the group’s president. Sixty-five percent reported that they needed help with rent and utilities, and 48% said that of food.

“This is not simply saying undocumented students shouldn’t get things that other students don’t get,” Feldblum said. “This was a choice. This was going to be a core lifeline.”

Higher education groups were not surprised that the Trump administration targeted immigrants who are living here illegally but said DeVos’ messaging had been inconsistent.

In a letter announcing the grants, DeVos said the law “provides institutions with significant discretion on how to award this emergency assistance to students” and “the only statutory requirement is that the funds be used to cover expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus.”

The new guidance has caused “head-snapping uncertainty on college campuses,” said Terry Hartle, a senior vice president at the American Council on Education.

He added that the decision was clearly made by the department. “Congress had nothing to do with it,” he said. “The department has to own it.”