Hispanic Lawmakers Press Biden on His Promise to Cancel Student Debt

Hispanic lawmakers are urging President Joe Biden to follow through on a campaign promise to cancel student loan debt that they say falls especially hard on Hispanic and Latino Americans.

In a letter dated April 25, Representative Raul Ruiz, a California Democrat and chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, asked the Biden administration to honor a pledge to cancel up to $10,000 in student loan debt for each current borrower, as well as to extend the pandemic-era payment moratorium through the end of 2022.

The changes, Ruiz wrote, would "help bring relief to Hispanic communities across the country." The letter follows similar pushes from other lawmakers, including some who want Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in debt for each borrower.

The Biden administration recently extended the payment moratorium through Aug. 31.

At a press conference on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the president "would make a decision about any cancellation of student debt before the conclusion of that pause on student loans, but I don't have anything to preview for you at this point in time." She also said that student debt was a racial equity issue, "but it is also an issue that impacts many individuals — young people, middle-aged people — of all races."

About 45 million Americans collectively hold $1.75 trillion in student loan debt, Federal Reserve data show, and federal loans at the end of last year comprised $1.6 trillion of that. Two out of every three Latino students have loan debt, according to an analysis by the Education Data Initiative, a research group; for four out of five of those borrowers, their debt one year after college exceeded $10,000. Latino borrowers are also more likely than their White and Asian counterparts to be behind on repayments, data show.

An estimated 72% of Latinos attending college ultimately take out loans of some kind, a June 2020 report from the Student Borrower Protection Center found. Those tend to be federal loans, an Oct. 2021 report from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill noted. And of those who did take out student loans to attend college, one in three did not complete their degree, a brief from the nonprofit UnidosUS said.

Research shows Hispanic and Latino people are more likely than others to delay life milestones such as marriage and having children due to student loan debt.