AAU Leaders Call on Congress for Permanent DACA Solution

Earlier this year, AAU presidents and chancellors urged Congress to enact a permanent legal solution for the nearly 800,000 young unauthorized immigrants participating in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. These young people were brought to our country as children, registered with the federal government in good faith, and have become ingrained in our society. Many are now students at our universities with achievements and career ambitions in science, medicine, law, business, engineering, and the arts.

These young men and women stood up and acted in good faith when called upon to register with the federal government and the decision to end DACA has caused them great distress. The vast majority of Americans agree that Congress must act to ensure these young people can remain in the only country they have called home. Such action is consistent with our nation’s fundamental values. As leaders of our nation’s foremost research universities, we again implore Congress to pass bipartisan legislation to permit DACA participants to remain in the United States without fear of deportation, so they may continue to contribute to our great nation.