Catholic College Presidents Pressure Trump Administration to Protect DACA Students
In a letter, the education leaders urged Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to help.
A Rutgers University student protests in 2016. Catholic colleges and universities want clarification on the Trump administration's plans for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. ALBIN LOHR-JONES/PACIFIC PRESS/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES
By Lauren Camera, Education Reporter | May 23, 2017, at 5:38 p.m.
More than 65 presidents of Catholic colleges and universities are demanding the Trump administration clarify its immigration enforcement policies regarding recipients of Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals, young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
In a letter sent Tuesday to the Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who is Catholic, the presidents urged him to follow through with the administration’s promise to protect them from deportation.
“While the DACA policy remains in place, expanded immigration enforcement priorities have led to the detention of at least 10 DACA holders who have not committed a criminal offense that would compromise their DACA eligibility,” they wrote. “In addition, recent actions and statements by Immigration and Customs Enforcement about young people who met the DACA criteria raise many questions about the safety of our students.”
The presidents requested a face-to-face meeting with Kelly to better understand how enforcement agencies are approaching DACA holders, and noting that various statements from ICE regarding the detentions and deportations of DACA holders have “alarmed us and our students.”
The request comes on the heels of a tweet from the official ICE account that read, “DACA is not a protected legal status, but active DACA recipients are typically a lower level of enforcement priority.”
https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2017-05-23/catholic-college-presidents-pressure-trump-administration-to-protect-daca-students
http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/03e723_ccd0f6e16a04432c9d2997ac137aa5ae.pdf