ISSUES
Coalition of 500+ College and University Leaders Mark Progress and Room for Growth for Undocumented, Refugee, and International Students in the First Year of Biden Presidency
Posted: January 20, 2022
Modified: October 17, 2022
ISSUES
Posted: January 20, 2022
Modified: October 17, 2022
COALITION OF 500+ COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY LEADERS MARK PROGRESS AND ROOM FOR GROWTH FOR UNDOCUMENTED, REFUGEE, AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN FIRST YEAR OF BIDEN PRESIDENCY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2022
Contact: Jose Magaña-Salgado (jose@presidentsalliance.org)
Washington, DC—Today, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration and its 500+ member Presidents and Chancellors look back on one year of policies and action for undocumented, refugee, and international students and scholars under President Biden. The higher education community has seen crucial first steps for our immigrant and international students and scholars, though we note the need for continued progress to create a safe, equitable, and just immigration system for all. We look forward to collaborating with the administration and Congress to design and implement an immigration and higher education strategy focused on legalization, accessibility, and retention.
Jose Magaña-Salgado, Director of Policy and Communications at the Presidents’ Alliance, stated: “As a DACA recipient and on behalf of the Presidents’ Alliance, I commend the administration’s commitment to fortifying DACA through updated guidance, a proposed regulation, and defending DACA in the Fifth Circuit. We call upon the administration to commit to expanding DACA through additional guidance and resume engagements with stakeholders and impacted community members. Finally, we also commend the administration’s movement on various TPS designations but encourage the administration to more aggressively use its TPS authority in the coming months.”
Miriam Feldblum, Executive Director of the Presidents’ Alliance, stated: “We applaud the Biden administration for undoing some of the significant damage wrought by the previous administration’s policies impacting undocumented, international, refugee, and other immigrant students. Now must be the time to press forward. We commend the administration’s commitment to reinvigorate and expand the refugee admissions program and stand ready to support the State Department’s new private sponsorship initiatives. By including college and university sponsorship of refugee students, we can greatly expand access for refugee learners to higher education.”
Jill Welch, Senior Policy Advisor to the Presidents’ Alliance, stated: “By focusing on improving policies that align with our values as a nation that welcomes immigrants, international students, scholars, and refugees, the Biden administration has made a number of important changes to set us on the right path toward strengthening our economy, protecting our security, and creating greater prosperity for all. We look forward to collaborating with the Administration and Congress to implement national policies that help us compete for and retain international students from around the globe.”
We look back on the major policies at the intersection of higher education and immigration in Biden administration’s first year and forward to the progress to come:
DACA and TPS Students and Scholars
Refugee Students and Scholars
International Students and Scholars
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The nonpartisan, nonprofit Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration brings college and university presidents and chancellors together on the immigration issues that impact higher education, our students, campuses, communities and nation. We work to advance just, forward-looking immigration policies and practices at the federal, state, and campus levels that are consistent with our heritage as a nation of immigrants and the academic values of equity and openness. The Alliance is composed of over 500 presidents and chancellors of public and private colleges and universities, enrolling over five million students in 43 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico.