Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, told Newsmax on Monday that a reparations package under consideration in Buncombe County, North Carolina, is not only "tone-deaf" but a blatant violation of federal law.
Dhillon detailed the letter she sent last week warning county officials that the $2.9 million proposal could expose the county to legal consequences. The plan is scheduled for a vote on Tuesday.
"I grew up in rural North Carolina," Dhillon told "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE." "In the 1970s, there were definitely the vestiges of discrimination there. I saw it with my own two eyes. It's 50 years later now, and this is totally ridiculous and tone deaf. And so we're going to put a stop to it here. And by the way, every other city and county trying to be cute and pass rules like this, you're on notice that we'll come after you, too."
Dhillon said the package has "38 different ways in which they intend to violate the federal civil rights laws." She cited proposals including special transportation for pregnant Black women but not others, set-asides for Black homeownership and housing preferences, and other programs restricted by race.
"Under our federal civil rights laws, it's 2025 here in America. This is all illegal," Dhillon said. "It will cause litigation and it will cause damages to be paid by this particular jurisdiction if they decide to proceed."
Dhillon noted that after receiving her letter, local officials appeared to soften their stance.
"Since they got my letter, Carl, they've retrenched a little bit and said, 'Well, maybe we could have phrased things a little more diplomatically,'" she said. "I'm glad they were pretty plain and blunt about what they wanted to do. We need more of that, because citizens deserve transparency into how their dollars are being spent."
She also referenced a recent controversy in which the city of Asheville, also in Buncombe, was forced to walk back a $225 million plan to use FEMA funds for disaster recovery aimed at prioritizing minority- and women-owned businesses.
"When I mentioned that they were sort of retrenching in the face of criticism, they actually mentioned that whole FEMA situation where they got called out and they had to dial it back," she said.
Dhillon stressed that her push is part of a broader mandate from the Justice Department.
"We have an absolute mandate from this president and from the attorney general to root out DEI wherever we find it," she told Newsmax. "And we're very dedicated to that."
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