October 11, 2017

Supporting the DREAMers

In recent days, there has been more news from Washington about the effort to protect the students and others who have been covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.

We are following the news carefully. I’m sorry to say that what’s clear is that nothing is clear at this point.

We are anticipating that there will be extensive political debate over the coming months about a legislative solution for our country’s DREAMers, following the federal administration’s announcement that it will be phasing out the current program.

In the meantime, I know that many in our community are concerned about the future for themselves, friends or family members.

I want to share a few things Stanford is doing both externally and internally at this very difficult time for many in our community.

First, we’re continuing to advocate for legislation to protect the DREAMers – who were brought to this country as children and have grown up as Americans, yet now face legal limbo through no fault of their own. We also have just signed a new multi-university letter to Congress organized by the American Council on Education to further reaffirm our position.

Second, we’re working to implement state legislation recently signed by Governor Brown. This legislation, which takes effect in January, requires California colleges and universities to establish a number of procedures that safeguard the rights of individuals who are the subject of immigration enforcement. Stanford is already in compliance with the broad thrust of the legislation; we are working now on implementation details and will update the community when implementation is finalized.

Finally, I want to let members of our community know about an upcoming event at El Centro Chicano y Latino that may be of interest to those seeking information about DACA, immigration enforcement and where these issues may be heading. The event will be a conversation with Lisa Weissman-Ward, supervising attorney with the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic of Stanford Law School, and representatives of Sacred Heart Community Service, a nonprofit social service agency serving Santa Clara County. The event will be held from 12 noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, October 24, at El Centro.

If you need support or assistance of any kind around these issues, please continue to consult our undocumented.stanford.edu website or reach out to Dean of Students Chris Griffith. We will continue working to support all members of the Stanford community.