The Presidents’ Alliance Reacts to the Fifth Circuit Hearing on Future of DACA

THE PRESIDENTS’ ALLIANCE REACTS TO FIFTH CIRCUIT HEARING ON FUTURE OF DACA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2022
Contact: Jose Magaña-Salgado (jose@presidentsalliance.org)

Washington, D.C.— Today, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard arguments in Texas v. United States, challenging the legality of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The following are statements from Jose Magaña-Salgado and Miriam Feldblum of the Presidents’ Alliance for Higher Education and Immigration.

Jose Magaña-Salgado, Director of Policy and Communications at the Presidents’ Alliance, stated: “While we do not know the eventual ruling in the latest legal challenge to DACA, we do know that the future of one of the most successful immigration initiatives in U.S. history remains at risk. This only heightens the urgency of a legislative solution that would build on the life-changing DACA initiative. Through DACA, I was able to become licensed to practice law, enter my desired career field, buy a home, and achieve a level of security and belonging in the United States that I never thought would be possible. My story is just one of more than 800,000 DACA stories that together make the case for why we need to fight to maintain, strengthen, and expand DACA and work to deliver a long-overdue legislative solution for its recipients and the employers, campuses, and families who rely on it.”

Miriam Feldblum, executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance, stated: “Higher education leaders have witnessed firsthand the immense contributions of DACA recipients and other Dreamers on our college and university campuses. Initiatives such as DACA and broader efforts to expand higher education access and equity  to undocumented students are win-wins –  beneficial to students, classrooms, campuses, surrounding communities, and our entire nation. Given the precarious future of DACA, we in higher education must continue to step up and support undocumented students, including preparing our campuses for a post-DACA world supporting our undocumented students who already do not have DACA, and committing to advocacy efforts to secure a permanent legislative fix.”

Read a new op-ed from Jose Magaña-Salgado and Miriam Feldblum published in today’s Inside Higher Ed:
Preparing for a Possible Post-DACA World 

RESOURCES

• Watch the recent Presidents’ Alliance legal webinar: “DACA’s Precarious Future: A Conversation with Legal Experts and Advocates”
• Read the Presidents’ Alliance resource, “What campuses can do to prep for post-DACA world” 
• Read the recent USA Today op-ed, “DACA recipients have helped build the American dream. It’s time to give them a path to citizenship” from three co-founders of the Presidents’ Alliance and co-chairs of our Steering Committee: Louis Caldera is a former secretary of the Army and was president of the University of New Mexico; Nancy Cantor is chancellor of Rutgers University, Newark; and Elsa Núñez is president of Eastern Connecticut State University.

 

 

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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 immigration policies and practices at the federal, state, and campus level 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.