Adler University, along with more than 164 colleges and universities from across the country, recently signed an amicus brief supporting the around 700,000 young immigrants who hold Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Adler University President Raymond E. Crossman is a member of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, which coordinated the legal brief.
Since 2012, DACA has offered temporary protection from deportation and the ability to work legally for these individuals who came to the United States as children, also commonly known as “Dreamers.”
“DACA has facilitated the pursuit of higher education by undocumented youth in unprecedented numbers, ensuring that once enrolled, these students are positioned to succeed,” the brief states.
On September 5, 2017, the federal administration announced that they were terminating the DACA program, jeopardizing the futures of hundreds of thousands of young people.
“This misguided, arbitrary, and capricious decision will harm the thousands of remarkable young people who are already DACA recipients and millions more who would seek to take advantage of the opportunities that DACA provides,” the brief states. “But, critically, it will also harm the country, which will be deprived of the many contributions Dreamers would otherwise be able to make.”
Over the past two years, multiple courts have kept renewals ongoing for current recipients, but the future of the program is uncertain. It will be argued at the U.S. Supreme Court on November 12, 2019. The Court could hand down a ruling as soon as February 2020.
If the program is rescinded, recipients will lose their ability to work and study legally, will be forced from their jobs, and will be subject to immediate deportation. The brief urges the Supreme Court to agree with what federal courts across the country have made clear: the administration’s decision to terminate DACA was unlawful and has caused irreparable damage to Dreamers and their families.