Ivy League Colleges Supporting Undocumented Students

America’s Dreamers, the eight Ivy League colleges have your back (photo credit: Chensiyuan).

If you’re curious where each of the eight Ivy League colleges stand on the Trump administration’s recent decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, know that every Ivy League college has come out firmly against this directive. We’ve combed through the comments of Ivy League leaders and thought we’d share with our readers what they think of the administration’s controversial decision to end DACA, a decision that is causing great anxiety to many undocumented young people. Some of these young people are indeed current students at Ivy League and other universities in the United States.

Ivy League Presidents Opposing the end of DACA

Harvard

Drew Faust, president of Harvard University, voiced vigorous opposition to the end of DACA. As reports Claire E. Parker for “The Harvard Crimson,” “‘This cruel policy recognizes neither justice nor mercy,’ Faust wrote in an email to Harvard affiliates of the decision. ‘In the months to come, we will make every effort to have our voice heard, in the halls of Congress and elsewhere, about the need for the protections of DACA to continue.'” We love it.

Dartmouth

Phil Hanlon, the president of Dartmouth College, sent a letter to President Trump that urged him not to end DACA. The letter did not persuade our president. In a campus-wide email to the Dartmouth community after the Trump administration announced the end of DACA, as reported by “The Dartmouth,” Hanlon wrote that the school “‘will do everything in our power, within the bounds of the law,’ to support community members most affected by potential immigration policy changes and ‘will continue to decline to disclose information about students except as required by law.'” Well said!

Penn

Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania, wrote President Trump (a UPenn alumnus) a letter on the subject of DACA. As reports Ally Johnson for “The Daily Pennsylvanian,” “‘These young people have grown up in our communities, attended our schools, and have both the strong desire and impressive capacity to make vital contributions to our nation’s future economic strength and global competitiveness,’ Gutmann wrote in the letter, dated Aug. 31. ‘They are also vulnerable, and at this moment in time they need the power and compassion of your office to stand up for them.'” Can we get an Amen?

Princeton

The president of Princeton University, Christopher Eisgruber, made his opinion known in a letter to President Trump as well. As reports Emily Spalding for “The Daily Princetonian,” Eisgruber wrote to President Trump, “‘You have said that DACA students are ‘incredible kids,’ and I very much agree. Indeed, I expect that the extraordinary young people at Princeton and other institutions of higher education who have benefited from the DACA program will be leaders in building the innovation economy that your administration has championed.'” We couldn’t agree more!

Cornell

The president of Cornell University, Martha Pollack, also participated in this letter writing campaign. In her letter to President Trump, as reported by Emma Newburger for “The Cornell Daily Sun,” she wrote, “They were brought to this country before they had a choice in the matter, have grown up here, and are succeeding here despite significant challenges and obstacles. I believe they deserve a chance to fulfill their dreams, and this action has the potential to extinguish those dreams.” We believe so too!

Yale

The president of Yale University, Peter Salovey, wrote in a letter to the White House, as reported by “Yale News,” “A decision to maintain DACA will allow Congress time to act on legislation to establish a legal pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. It will provide a level of security for the Dreamers who trusted the government’s promise that they would be shielded from deportation if they self-identified, registered with federal law enforcement agencies, and passed an extensive background investigation.” His words sure do make sense to us!

Brown

The president of Brown University, Christina Paxson, wrote an extremely powerful letter to President Trump, published by “News from Brown.” At one point in the letter, Paxson wrote, “I am writing you with great earnestness and urgency to ask that you preserve DACA while seeking a permanent solution with Congress that provides these individuals with an expedited path to lawful permanent citizenship. Please allow the roughly 800,000 people registered under the program to continue contributing in many ways to our nation.” Do check out Paxson’s powerful statement to President Trump. It’s worth a read.

Columbia

We haven’t seen a recent comment on DACA from Columbia University president Lee Bollinger but back in November 2016, Columbia pledged to provide support and financial assistance to undocumented students so we have a strong feeling we know exactly where Bollinger and Columbia stand on the end of DACA.

While you’re here, we’ve got some thoughts on the rights of undocumented Americans too on America’s college campuses so do check out what we’ve got to say on the subject.