On Thursday, the Justice Department signaled support to a group of Asian-American students, who are suing Harvard University over its affirmative action policies in a statement of interest filed by the Justice Department on behalf of Students for Fair Admissions. The case will have over-arching impacts in college admissions nationwide if won.

The students argue the policies have systemically discriminated against Asian Americans by limiting their admission number to advance students of other races. One report demonstrates that Harvard’s student population would be 43% Asian if based on academic merit alone.

The Justice Department stated, “Harvard has failed to carry its demanding burden to show that its use of race does not inflict unlawful racial discrimination on Asian-Americans.”

The filing maintains that Harvard University “uses a vague ‘personal rating’ that uses racial bias to diminish Asian Americans’ chances for admission. It also mentions that the university has not used race-neutral parameters since it started to use race for admission decisions.

Since Trump has been elected, the Justice Department is utilizing statements of interests, such as in the Harvard case, to join in many civil rights cases. Affirmative action, a contentious outcome of the civil rights legacy, has always been opposed by white conservatives as they see it advances students of other races. In more recent years, the same fight has been re-engaged Asian American students, who claim they are losing out to less qualified students.

White and Asian Americans have the highest median income out of all racial groups in America.