ACE Releases Issue Brief on Trump Administration’s DACA Decision
September 11, 2017

In the wake of the rollback of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, ACE has prepared an issue brief (136 KB PDF) detailing the key elements of the Trump administration’s “DACA Rescission Memorandum” and how it will impact students and campuses. Along with these talking points (83 KB PDF), this brief will help campuses prepare to assist students and speak to their congressional delegations about the importance of acting now to protect DACA recipients.

The reaction in support of DACA and Dreamers over the past week has been overwhelming, with vocal defense of the policy from many quarters, including from members of the president’s own party. The Republican-leaning Chamber of Commerce issued a forceful pro-DACA statement, and Javier Palomarez, president and CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, resigned from the White House National Diversity Council, calling the decision “disgraceful.”

Among the expected legal challenges, a group of attorneys general from 15 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Sept 6. to prevent the government from stripping DACA recipients of their status. University of California (UC) President Janet Napolitano announced Sept. 8 that she had filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to stop the administration’s action.

“As president of the University of California, it is my job to protect the students on our campuses,” Napolitano wrote in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times Friday. “As the author of DACA, I know its legal basis and its aims. As both, I am suing the administration because its actions on Tuesday will harm innocent young people and, by extension, all of us.”