Adler University has joined the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, the American Business Immigration Coalition, and more than 400 higher education, business, faith, and civic leaders across the U.S. in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging support for the bipartisan Durbin-Graham DREAM Act of 2021.
The letter was sent today, July 19, in response to the decision ruled by Texas federal district court Judge Andrew Hanen on July 16 against the legality of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Judge Hanan’s ruling blocks any new initial applications for DACA. Renewals are also in jeopardy. Judge Hanan is currently allowing current DACA recipients to continue filing their renewals but warned that an order stopping the processing of renewals could be issued in the near future.
Judge Hanan’s “decision throws into further limbo the lives of hundreds of thousands of young Dreamers and gravely impacts their employers, families, and communities,” the letter states. “It makes starkly clear why Congress must seize the opportunity to finally pass the bipartisan DREAM Act of 2021 and end this constant rollercoaster of lawsuits and uncertainty.”
The letter was convened by the American Business Immigration Coalition, a bipartisan coalition of more than 1200+ business leaders across the country, and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, which brings together college and university pleaders on immigration issues that impact higher education. Adler University President Raymond E. Crossman, Ph.D., is a member of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration on behalf of Adler University.
The DREAM Act is particularly critical for the 98,000 DACA recipients who graduate from high school every year and the 427,000 undocumented students enrolled in higher education institutions. “These students are working diligently to advance themselves, including pursuing careers in health, STEM, and teaching, notwithstanding the uncertainty they live with regarding whether they will be able to complete their education, invest in beginning careers, businesses, and families, and ultimately become citizens.”
The letter also shares that DACA recipients, also called Dreamers, are essential to our nation’s communities and economies, paying close to $10 billion in taxes and holding a spending power of nearly $20 billion. “Nearly 40,000 Dreamers have started businesses and created new jobs for American workers, growing our entrepreneurial spirit. Dreamers are on the frontlines of the pandemic response,” the letter states.
“We urge the Senate to come together and immediately provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers through the passage of the bipartisan DREAM Act, and if necessary, through budget reconciliation.”