University presidents beg Trump to keep DACA in place

In anticipation of President Trump fulfilling his campaign promise to repeal DACA, colleges across the country are urging the president to keep Obama’s illegal amnesty policy in place.

Characterizing DACA repeal as a “tragic mistake,” the “elimination of hope,” and stating that “Dreamers belong here,” the nation’s top universities insist that President Trump must abstain from repealing the policy and vigorously defend it in the courts.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive order provided amnesty to illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. Additionally, as CR’s Daniel Horowitz has previously explained, the order offered these so-called “Dreamers” benefits and affirmative legal status, with Social Security cards, work permits, and thousands of dollars in refundable tax credit welfare payments.

President Trump correctly decried Obama’s executive order as unconstitutional on the campaign trail.

Several months after assuming office, President Trump is expected to finally fulfill that campaign pledge.

In an open letter to Trump, Harvard University president Drew Gilpin Faust wrote: “It is my hope and, more importantly, the hope of hundreds of thousands of talented, dedicated, and determined young people who are American in all but immigration status, that you and your administration continue the DACA program, and do everything in your power to defend it.”

Not to be outdone in the Ivory Tower Virtue-signaling Olympics, her sentiments were joined by several other college presidents in separate letters and statements.

“Repealing DACA would be a tragic mistake,” Princeton University president Christopher Eisgruber wrote. “DACA is a wise and humane policy that benefits this country in multiple ways. It has allowed talented and motivated students, who came here as a result of decisions by their parents, to pursue educations and contribute positively to our communities and our country.”

"We urge the president to continue to give status to young people who have done nothing wrong, most of whom have only known life in the United States and who will make important contributions to it. Notre Dame intends to support these students and asks the administration to do the same," Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins said in a statement.

“The right course for these young people and their families, for our university communities, and for our country is to maintain DACA unaltered,” wrote NYU president Andrew Hamilton. “I hope your administration will do so. Few things would be more at odds with our national ideals than punishing the innocent. And compassion is a particularly potent and noble American quality.”

And Cornell University president Martha E. Pollack wrote: “On behalf of Cornell University, I write to share my deepest concern with news reports indicating that you intend to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, as part of your Administration’s response to a legal challenge by several states. If these reports are correct, I strongly urge you to reconsider and allow DACA to continue as it has since 2012, and to defend the program on its merits in court.”

It is unclear when the White House will officially announce a decision on DACA. Friday, the president said his decision could come “Sunday, Saturday, Monday at the latest.”

Update:

Later on Friday afternoon, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president will make a DACA announcement on Tuesday.