Colleges offering legal tips, hotlines amid DACA uncertainty
BERKELEY, Calif. — Mixed signals from Washington over a possible agreement to preserve protections for young immigrants are increasing anxiety and confusion on college campuses, where the stakes are high.
Amid the uncertainty, colleges and universities are stepping up efforts to protect students enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, telling them to be hopeful but plan for the worst.
Harvard University has opened a round-the-clock emergency hotline for immigrants in the program. The University of Illinois at Chicago has posted advice on what to do if federal agents show up on campus. UC Berkeley, the University of San Francisco and many other campuses are offering free legal advice to immigrant students now facing fears of deportation.
Nearly sixty college and university presidents sent a letter urging congressional leaders to make the program permanent out of “moral imperative and a national necessity.”