Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon demanded in a letter sent July 29 that a school district in Maryland stop hiding information about student gender transitions from parents or face litigation from the Justice Department.

«By categorically withholding ‘(i)nformation about a student’s gender identity’ from parents except where ‘legally required,’ AACPS appears to have adopted a blanket, district-wide practice of nondisclosure untethered to FERPA’s enumerated exceptions … parents were denied access to their child’s full record, information was disclosed without parental consent, and the parents were denied a hearing to correct the record,» she wrote, aimed at the Anne Arundel County school system. 

«Comply with the law or face us in court,» Dhillon later added on X.

The demand marks the Trump administration’s latest effort to challenge school policies that allow students to socially transition without their parents’ knowledge, testing whether federal education privacy law requires districts to disclose gender-identity records. Anne Arundel County now faces possible litigation — and potentially the loss of federal funding — unless it reverses the policy within seven days, escalating a national dispute over parental rights, a significant plank in the president’s policy agenda.

‘SHAME ON YOU’: SHERRILL KNEW VOTER-ROLL BOMBSHELL WAS COMING WHEN SHE CALLED TRUMP A LIAR, DOJ OFFICIAL SAYS

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is designed to give parents the legal right to access their children’s educational records, which the Trump administration argues includes information related to changes in their gender identity. The law has previously been used by the DOJ in attempts to overturn similar policies in Maine and California.

LGBT advocates argue that nondisclosure for information linked to a child’s gender identity is important to preserving the safety of children growing up in non-affirming or abusive households. Social conservatives, meanwhile, take the position that schools don’t have the right to conceal information about their children from them.

Before Dhillon sent her letter Wednesday, the DOJ and the Department of Education announced that they had entered a partnership to crack down on transgender nondisclosure policies in both Anne Arundel County and Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan, potentially withholding federal funds from the district until it changes course.

VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICT SUED OVER ALLEGED POLICY OF KEEPING STUDENTS’ GENDER TRANSITIONS HIDDEN FROM PARENTS

FILE PHOTO: A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as «Main Justice,» is seen behind the podium in the Department’s headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)

In a press release announcing the joint effort, the agencies claimed that the Education Department had received complaints from parents in Anne Arundel County who alleged the district «was secretly helping their daughter pretend to be male at school» and declined to provide information about it when confronted.

An Education Department official told Fox News Digital that the agency does not comment on ongoing investigations and a DOJ spokesperson referred Fox News Digital to Dhillon’s remarks when reached for comment.

Students enrolled in Anne Arundel Public Schools are, per district policy, allowed to use any name or pronoun they prefer, even if it doesn’t align with their sex, without requiring parental approval. Staff are, however, instructed to involve the student’s family in developing a support plan for the student unless «there is a genuine safety concern for the student’s physical, emotional, or mental health safety.»

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OPENS FOUR TITLE IX INVESTIGATIONS INTO MICHIGAN AND NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Harmeet Dhillon speaks at the National Conservative Convention in Washington D.C., Sept. 2, 2025. (Dominic Gwinn / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Additionally, the policy designates records about student gender identity as confidential medical information and advises that it should be revealed when legally necessary.

The Anne Arundel, Maryland, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, school districts did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

«School districts that hide information from parents are violating federal law,» Dhillon said. «FERPA is not optional, and any districts that attempt to bypass or distort its requirements should expect immediate federal action. In partnership with the Department of Education, the Department of Justice will initiate enforcement proceedings with districts that fail to comply.»

Dhillon’s letter gives Anne Arundel Public Schools seven days to rescind its policy, provide parents impacted with the relevant records and inform staff that they cannot withhold information from parents. If the deadline is not met, the letter claims the district could face legal action.

En Una filosofía de la risa, Bernat Castany Prado plantea una defensa del humor como herramienta para vivir con la incertidumbre, cuestionar dogmas y aliviar una condición humana que, según la tradición que recorre el ensayo, está hecha a la vez de sufrimiento y risa.

El libro se presenta como una continuación de Una filosofía del miedo, donde el autor ya había explorado, a través de pensadores como Epicuro, Spinoza y Nietzsche, una vía filosófica para contener la angustia. En esta nueva entrega, la risa ocupa ese lugar y funciona como otro repertorio para enfrentar el exceso de futuro y la inquietud.

La idea central es nítida: la comicidad no aparece solo como entretenimiento, sino como una forma de conocimiento. Castany Prado sitúa la ironía y la risa en el centro de la experiencia humana, tanto en una fiesta como en un funeral, y las entiende como instrumentos para relativizar certezas y someter a examen las convicciones propias.

El itinerario intelectual del libro va de Platón a Bergson y suma nombres como Sócrates, Montaigne, Cervantes, Borges, Sófocles y Rilke. A través de esa tradición filosófica y literaria, el autor plantea que la ironía y la comicidad han sido concebidas como una vía para conocer y como una forma de vida menos sometida al dogma.

Ese recorrido también sostiene una crítica a la solemnidad moral y religiosa. La apuesta del ensayo consiste en apartarse de los escrúpulos neuróticos, de los sermones incapaces de admitir la duda y de toda forma de decoro que impida encontrar una manera más sana de vivir y de reír.

En ese marco, el libro recupera la idea de aprender a amar las preguntas cuando no es posible resolver todo lo que inquieta. La referencia a Rilke refuerza esa defensa de la duda, no como carencia, sino como una disposición compatible con una vida menos rígida.

Uno de los argumentos más definidos del ensayo es que el humor opera como crítica y como antídoto frente a fanatismos y dogmatismos. Castany Prado lo vincula con prejuicios irracionales y con convicciones frágiles que, al no tolerar examen, reaccionan con rigidez ante cualquier fisura.

El libro conecta esa función con un presente marcado por la polarización y la indignación. En ese contexto, la risa aparece como una práctica liberadora, aunque el autor evita tanto una visión ingenua como una lectura trascendente de la comicidad.

Esa cautela se traduce en una idea concreta: para conservar el equilibrio emocional, la empatía no siempre basta y a veces debe deformarse en “em-pa-tu-tía”. La fórmula resume el tono del ensayo, que combina erudición filosófica con registros cotidianos y un uso deliberado del juego verbal.

El texto también prevé objeciones. Entre las posibles críticas menciona la acusación de idealizar el poder emancipador del humor, atribuirle una capacidad transformadora excesiva, dispersarse en una acumulación de referencias o limitarse casi por completo a la tradición occidental sin incorporar perspectivas de otras culturas.

Frente a esos reparos, la defensa del autor se apoya en su formación y en el modo en que administra su erudición. Castany Prado es licenciado en Filosofía y Filología Hispánica, se doctoró con una tesis sobre Borges y tiene estudios de música, un perfil que el libro traduce en una escritura de pulso narrativo sostenido y atención al ritmo de la lengua.

La apuesta final del ensayo enlaza el sapere aude kantiano con una exigencia paralela: el ridere aude de la ironía. Desde esa perspectiva, la filosofía de la risa no rebaja la importancia de sus temas, sino que convierte lo ligero en un asunto de primer orden para desmontar falsedades ajenas y propias.

La conclusión práctica del libro apunta a una corrección de la tendencia humana a dramatizar la vida y a victimizarse. Cuando la verdad y la identidad no terminan de fijarse, la búsqueda puede continuar, pero el ensayo propone hacerlo como los filósofos cínicos: riendo.

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Justice is moving to revoke the citizenship of more than two dozen individuals who the DOJ said committed crimes ranging from attempted murder to child sexual abuse to identity fraud, marking its largest citizenship revocation surge on record, Fox News Digital learned Monday.

«U.S. citizenship is one of our nation’s highest privileges, and it must be obtained lawfully and honestly,» Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News Digital on Monday. 

«The complaints announced today allege that these individuals secured naturalization through fraud, concealment, or other unlawful conduct— including by concealing violent crimes, sexual offenses against children, fraudulent identities, and other disqualifying facts,» said Blanche.

The complaints against the 25 individuals, filed between July 20 and Aug. 3, involve naturalized U.S. citizens who are natives of 17 countries: Pakistan, Moldova, India, Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Jamaica, Taiwan, Honduras, Cameroon, Jordan, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti and Sweden, Fox News Digital learned. The DOJ told Fox News Digital later Monday that it had added another case, raising the number of people facing denaturalization from 24 to 25.

DOJ MOVES TO STRIP CITIZENSHIP FROM 17 PEOPLE ACCUSED OF HIDING DISTURBING CRIMES

«Today’s filings represent the largest coordinated denaturalization effort in Department history, but they are only the beginning. The Justice Department will continue to use every tool available to protect the integrity of the naturalization process and the safety of the American people,» Blanche added.

The cases bring the department’s total denaturalization filings to 88 since Jan. 20, 2025, as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to strip citizenship from individuals it says obtained it unlawfully.

The cases span a wide range of alleged conduct that the Justice Department says should have disqualified the individuals from obtaining or keeping U.S. citizenship.

The complaints involve allegations including attempted murder, child sexual abuse, domestic violence, marriage fraud, identity fraud, passport fraud, bank and credit card fraud, and practicing medicine without a license, among other offenses.

«Today marks the largest denaturalization surge in recorded history,» said Justice Department’s Civil Division Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP PUTS ASYLUM LAWYERS ‘ON NOTICE’ WITH NEW FRONT IN WAR ON FRAUD

Migrants wait in line to turn themselves in for processing to U.S. Customs and Border Protection border patrol agents near the Paso del Norte Port of Entry after crossing the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, on May 9, 2023.  (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

«Every one of these individuals committed crimes incompatible with U.S. citizenship. We are moving at record speed to denaturalize those who sought to deceive the federal government and abuse the naturalization process.»

In one case, the department seeks to denaturalize a man in North Carolina convicted of attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon after obtaining citizenship through military service but allegedly failing to meet the required period of honorable service.

ICE NABS ILLEGAL ALIENS CONVICTED OF CHILD SEX CRIMES AND METH TRAFFICKING IN NATIONWIDE ENFORCEMENT SWEEP

U.S. President Donald Trump walks to a waiting Air Force One at the Hagerstown Regional Airport on July 31, 2026, in Hagerstown, Maryland. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Prosecutors also allege a naturalized citizen in South Carolina concealed a violent assault in which he beat and choked his wife, later pleading guilty to assault and battery after the attack left her hospitalized.

In June, DOJ moved to revoke 17 individuals from 13 different countries over allegations of child sexual abuse, narcotics trafficking and large-scale financial fraud.