BROOKLYN COLLEGE–On Wednesday, Oct. 5, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a 2021 decision that declared the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals unconstitutional. Dreamers, who are declared legal residents that renew their DACA status every two years, will be able to maintain their residency status, but the DACA program will no longer accept new applications.
The constitutionality of DACA has remained contested since former President Barack Obama instituted the program in 2012. President Joe Biden recently issued a new DACA rule in an attempt to clarify the situation by codifying existing codes, but the court’s decision has continued the program’s legal murkiness.
CUNY’s Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez on Oct. 9 released a Twitter thread calling on Congress to “provide a path to U.S. citizenship for all undocumented young people.” Speaking to the undocumented student population, he stated, “CUNY doesn’t regard the protection of undocumented immigrants as a political issue; for us, it’s personal.”
