After President Donald Trump repealed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy in September, university leaders across the country are pushing for Dreamers to regain the protections they once had under the Obama-era legislation.
Earlier in the week, Big Ten university chancellors and presidents, including Chancellor Rebecca Blank, addressed a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Cali., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The letter called on them to pass “a long-term legislative solution.”
“The stories we hear on our campuses are troubling — high achieving young adults with uncertain futures. They are nurses, engineers, and pharmacy students,” the letter states. “They are student athletes, leaders in music programs, and active across campus.”
DACA allowed child immigrants to the U.S. to temporarily work and live in the country. According to the American Immigration Council, as many as 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children benefit from DACA. Approximately 10,000 undocumented immigrants graduate from college each year.
