On September 5, 2017, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is being rescinded. As numerous accounts indicate, the majority of DACA recipients are students who are enrolled in higher education institutions. As we have said in previous statements, ending DACA will drastically disrupt the lives of these students who willingly came forward to register with the federal government.
As an organization committed to protecting the human rights of scholars and students across the globe, Endangered Scholars Worldwide believes that ending DACA would be a mistake. It would put lives of thousands of committed students in the United States in jeopardy, preventing them from pursuing their education and making them to return to a life of anxiety and doubt.
Endangered Scholars Worldwide deplores the administration’s decision and calls upon all national and international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to protest and condemn this decision and to urge the US Congress to move decisively over the next six months to sustain the DACA program. We believe that upholding DACA will ensure the mission of higher learning institutions to provide safe environments in which everyone is respected and teaching and learning is fostered.
Background
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) defers deportation for two years to eligible immigrants but does not grant legal status. Created in 2012 by Barak Obama’s executive action, DACA addresses the problem of young people brought to the US without documentation when they were under 16, allowing them to stay if they meet certain requirements and inviting them to declare themselves openly to the government. It applies only to the fixed pool of those who were brought to the United States as children before June 2007. Undocumented immigrants must reapply for DACA after each two-year period and must demonstrate that they meet several criteria to be eligible:
Under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012
Came to the United States before turning 16
Continuously resided in the United States since June 15, 2007
Physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012, and at the time of making the DACA request
Had no lawful status on June 15, 2012
Currently in school, graduated from high school, obtained a GED certificate, or was an honorably discharged military veteran
Not convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more other misdemeanors