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 Template State Delegation Letter for Higher Ed Institutions to Support DACA RecipientsJuly 28, 2020The Presidents’ Alliance developed this template state delegation letter for institutions of higher education to adapt and send to congressional delegations in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients in response to the administration’s July 28, 2020, attempt to dismantle DACA in response to the June 18, 2020, Supreme Court decision holding that the initial rescission was unlawful. The template letter considers the current COVID-19 crisis and recent court decisions, highlights DACA and undocumented student demographics and economic contributions, shares qualitative data regarding DACA recipients, and provides specific recommendations for the congressional delegation to take. We recommend the following steps:1. Draft. Identify a small working group of higher ed institutions in your state and collaborate with them to customize the letter for your state.2. Circulate. Circulate the final letter to all higher ed institutions in your state for endorsement.3. Transmit. Work with a government relations officer at one of the institutions or a state higher education association to transmit the final letter to all U.S. House and Senate Members who represent your state in Congress.4. Publicize. Share the letter with the Presidents’ Alliance at info@ and publicly share the letter through a press statement, regular media, and social media.Institutions should edit terms in [brackets] and highlighted in yellow and customize the letter as much as they see fit. Of note, while this template uses the term “Dreamers,” many immigrant youth prefer to not use that term, opting for terms such as “immigrant youth” or “immigrants.”For more information, please consult our messaging toolkit, our Remember the Dreamers campaign, our member update, and our talking points on the Supreme Court decision.[date][state] Senate DelegationU.S. SenateWashington, D.C. 20510[state] House DelegationU.S. House of RepresentativesWashington, D.C. 20515Honorable Members of the [state] Congressional Delegation:In the midst of our national COVID-19 crisis, we write to express our deep concern of how this crisis is also impacting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and Dreamers. As presidents and chancellors of public and private institutions of higher education in [state], we reach out to ask for your support in light of the Supreme Court’s decision on DACA and the administration’s July 28, 2020, memorandum, Reconsideration of the June 15, 2012 Memorandum Entitled “Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion with Respect to Individuals Who Came to the United States as Children,” which reduces DACA renewals to one-year moving forward, rejects new DACA applications, and sets forth a process to eventually rescind DACA.Our schools vary in size, student body, and mission, but all of our institutions recognize and value the contributions of these individuals to our campuses, community, and country. As higher education leaders, we firmly believe in investing in the success of all students, regardless of immigration status, and we urge you to enact permanent bipartisan legislative protection for Dreamers, to urge U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to resume accepting initial DACA requests and requests for advance parole and to hold the administration accountable for its July 28, 2020, efforts to eventually dismantle DACA. Support for Dreamers cuts across partisan lines, with the bulk of the American public (70 percent) supporting not only protecting them from deportation, but also establishing a roadmap to permanent status. Support of DACA recipients and their continued work authorization during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is particularly critical as 27,000 DACA recipients are employed as healthcare practitioners and supporting occupations and are on the front lines of responding to COVID-19. DACA provides almost 100,000 current DACA recipients and DACA-eligible individuals—who could be eligible to apply for and obtain DACA for the first time—in at least ten states with the opportunity to either enroll in public postsecondary institutions or access in-state tuition. Ending DACA without a permanent, legislative solution will block access to higher education in at least ten states. Estimates reveal that 98,000 undocumented students, ages 15 to 19, graduate from high school every year. A permanent, legislative solution would ensure that these young students have the opportunity to access higher education and contribute fully to the U.S.As Members of Congress representing our state, we respectfully ask that you join us in supporting DACA recipients during this challenging time. Specifically, we urge you to: Call on DHS to rescind its July 28, 2020, memorandum scaling back DACA and on USCIS to resume accepting initial requests for DACA and requests for advance parole, as originally ordered by the federal district court in Maryland;Call upon the administration to refrain from issuing another memorandum or regulation that would terminate DACA;Automatically extend work authorization for DACA recipients for two years through legislation and simultaneously call upon the administration to do the same in light of the current crisis and the office closures and challenges that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) staff already face during this period;Collaborate, in a bipartisan manner, to pass legislation that would provide permanent protection for Dreamers without hurting or penalizing other immigrant communities;Utilize the annual appropriations process to limit the administration’s authority to arrest, detain, and deport Dreamers; andClosely monitor and exercise oversight of administrative actions that may result in the arrest, detention, and deportation of Dreamers.There are approximately [number] of DACA recipients in our state and [number] U.S. citizen children who have a parent with DACA status. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that over 1.3 million individuals are immediately eligible for DACA, including [number] in our state. DACA recipients in our state pay [number] in federal taxes and [number] in state and local taxes and have a spending power of [number]. Their economic and civic contributions, of course, increase significantly with the completion of a higher education degree. Their loss of DACA status would translate to a loss for our state’s economy. DACA recipients, however, represent only a subset of the undocumented student population. According to Undocumented Students in Higher Education: How Many Students are in U.S. Colleges and Universities, and Who Are They?, an April 2020 report by New American Economy and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, there are over 450,000 undocumented students enrolled in colleges and universities, including approximately 216,000 DACA-eligible students. Approximately [number] undocumented [state] resident students are currently enrolled in institutions of higher education and working diligently to advance themselves, notwithstanding their uncertainty regarding whether they will be able to complete their education, much less remain and make a life in the United States. Among DACA-eligible students pursuing advanced studies in STEM, 46 percent have an undergraduate degree in a healthcare-related field, especially important as the COVID-19 crisis highlights the nation's severe shortages across our healthcare system, from physicians to health aides. In their pursuit of higher education, these students are actively readying themselves to fill critical skills shortages, including in health, STEM, teaching, and business, to support their families, and to contribute to their local communities, adding to the vitality and success of our state and nation. Campus staff and faculty with DACA need long-term legislative solutions to continue working on our campuses and contributing to vital research, services, and teaching. Our DACAmented alumni have built better lives and careers for themselves thanks to the professional licensing that DACA enables them to acquire. Students enrolled in professional programs to become doctors, nurses, lawyers, educators, and other careers need permanent protections so that they will be able to fully enter and participate in their desired professions and, importantly, contribute to our communities and country. A renewed rescission of DACA will lead to unemployment for DACA recipients, making it difficult to pay bills and tuition and to stave off food insecurity. DACA students will be at greater risk of dropping out of our institutions due to loss of income, deportation, or fear should DACA be terminated. Within the context of the COVID-19 national pandemic, these challenges only multiply.[Specific examples/cases from your school or state that demonstrate the concerns above, changing identifying information where appropriate to protect undocumented participants. Include information like the affected party (students, employees, alumni, etc.), their connection to your state/institution, and what they stand to lose.][If you are interested in tying in the ongoing advocacy on the funding shortfall affecting USCIS and driving furloughs (and therefore reducing the number of adjudicators available to process DACA applications), you can include the following sentence or variations thereof: “In light of the ongoing furloughs and financial crisis at USCIS, we also urge Congress to ensure that any additional appropriations to USCIS come with strict conditions, including the automatic extension of work permits discussed above.”]We appreciate your many efforts on behalf of our state and of Dreamers, and we sincerely hope you will continue to support these aspiring Americans who contribute so much to our economy and communities. We would welcome the opportunity to tell you more about why we stand with Dreamers and to work with you on this important issue.You may direct any questions you may have concerning this letter to [name] of [institution] at [email] or [phone]. Sincerely,[institutional signatories] ................
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