I’m not sure how much weight their letter will carry, given what we’ve already seen from the Trump-Bannon administration, but good for them:
A group of professors is calling on Arizona's public colleges and universities to protect undocumented students who may face deportation under President-elect Donald Trump. The group fears Trump will end a program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, that temporarily shields undocumented youth from deportation and allows them to legally work in the U.S.
If you’re a professor, staff member or student at any of the state’s universities or community colleges, you can read and sign the letter here. The authors call on the schools’ presidents and administrations to insure student privacy, establish a counseling program for vulnerable students, and help Dreamers continue their education in case of arrest or deportation.
Nationally, more than 740,000 people have applied for the DACA program, which grants them a reprieve from deportation, as well as a temporary work permit. In Arizona, more than 27,000 people have been approved for DACA, which means these young people — many brought to the U.S. when they were children — can legally get a job, drive a car and go to school.
About 2,000 Dreamers currently attend the state’s public universities and community colleges, but their status is certainly in question, since by applying for DACA authorities now know their address, along with work and family status. So much easier to round up! That’s more than troublesome, because every time Donald Trump visited the state during the campaign, usually surrounded by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and SB1070-signing former Gov. Jan Brewer, he said he’d rescind President Obama’s 2012 executive order and terminate DACA “immediately.”
It matters little that this is the only country and culture most of the Dreamers have known. The Trumpsters also don’t give a hoot that Dreamers are going to school, getting good jobs and contributing to the state’s culture and economy. It matters even less that a recent study shows that “ending DACA would wipe away at least $433.4 billion from the U.S. gross domestic product, or GDP, cumulatively over a decade.”
Only one thing matters to them: There’s going to be a wall and Dreamers should be on the other side of it. United We Dream offers these “5 Important Things” Dreamers should know during a Trump presidency.