The Supreme Court to Rule on DACA
New York University has filed a brief in support of the program.
Today will be a test of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. The Trump Administration has appealed lower court rulings that blocked the administration from ending the program, which the president announced he would do in 2017.
The DACA program allows for immigrants who were brought to the United States as children to work and go to school without fear of deportation. It was put into practice by President Barack Obama in 2012 and has almost 700,000 active enrollees.
The current administration argues that the program interferes with its ability to enforce immigration law and allows for the violation of federal law. Immigration advocacy groups and civil rights activists have challenged this idea in court, with the support of institutions such as NYU.
Last month, the university, along with 18 other US universities, filed a brief in support of the DACA program, opposing the Trump Administrations moves to end it.
“Ending DACA would force future scholars, innovators, and leaders to choose between withdrawing to the margins of our society and national economy or returning to countries that they have never called home,” the brief states. “Whatever they choose, their gifts and education will be lost to this nation.”
NYU has shown its support for DACA recipients and other undocumented students since they were threatened in 2017. Thanks to the work of groups like the NYU Dream Team, the University has moved to equalize scholarship opportunity regardless of immigration status for the 2019–2020 year.
“NYU will not draw a distinction between applicants who are US citizens, and those who maintain DACA status — or are otherwise undocumented — while determining institutional scholarship awards.”
While the nation’s highest court won’t actually be making a decision today, it will nonetheless be an important day for the future of immigration in the country, as well as for the many DACA recipients who attend NYU.
Assistance and support for DACA recipients is available through groups like United We Dream. Similar resources are available for immigrants regardless of status through NYC.gov and Informed Immigrant.
