UMD Signs Amicus Brief in Support of DACA

The University of Maryland has joined 164 colleges and universities across the nation to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Filed in federal court last week and coordinated by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, the amicus brief advocates for the rights of roughly 700,000 young immigrants to study and work in the United States under legal protection. The brief argues that revoking DACA status for the thousands of students across private, public and community institutions is not only unethical but unconstitutional.

“As institutions of higher education, we see every day the achievement and potential of these young people, and we think it imperative for both us and them that they be allowed to remain here and live out their dreams,” it reads. “Once at college or university, DACA recipients are among the most engaged students both academically and otherwise. They work hard in the classroom and become deeply engaged in co-curricular activities, supporting communities on and off-campus. Indeed, it defies rationality to prevent the government from utilizing its discretion to protect this set of young people from removal.”

On Nov. 12, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on a series of consolidated cases and determine whether the administration’s rescission of DACA was lawful.

DACA recipients help build and nourish Maryland’s robust community, from their academic excellence in research and science to their entrepreneurial and industrial spirit through business and the arts. The university will continue to identify avenues for offering support to DACA students and advocate for the restoration of their legal protections.