On October 4, 2019, Oglethorpe University joined more than 164 colleges and universities from across the country in signing an amicus brief supporting the roughly 700,000 young immigrants who came to the United States as children and who hold Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

This “friend of the court” brief was coordinated by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, and urges the Supreme Court to stand in support of DACA recipients. Read the brief here.

In February 2019, Oglethorpe University became the first college or university in the state of Georgia to partner with TheDream.US to offer scholarships to qualified immigrant students. Oglethorpe University President Larry Schall has remained a staunch advocate for DACA students, or “Dreamers”.

“Dreamers are among our most accomplished students and young alumni,” said President Schall. “I’ve stated before that Oglethorpe stands firmly in support of Dreamers, and we would take all possible steps to protect and support them. Partnering with TheDream.US was part of that commitment, as is signing on to the amicus brief now.”

DACA provided work authorization and protection from deportation to nearly 700,000 young people, enabling them to better support themselves and their families financially, build their careers and access higher education. If this vital program is rescinded, DACA recipients will lose their ability to work and study legally, will be forced from their jobs, and will be subject to immediate deportation. The brief urges the Supreme Court to agree with what federal courts across the country have made clear: the administration’s decision to terminate DACA was unlawful and has caused irreparable damage to Dreamers and their families and loved ones.

Since 2012, DACA has been extraordinarily successful, offering temporary protection from deportation and the ability to work legally to more than 700,000 young immigrants who came to the United States as children. The program has benefited these Dreamers, including our students, their families, their communities, and our economy tremendously.

On September 5, 2017, the administration announced that they were terminating the DACA program, jeopardizing the futures of hundreds of thousands of young people. In the past two years, multiple courts have kept renewals ongoing for current DACA recipients, but Dreamers have still been forced to live court case to court case, uncertain about their futures and in fear of being separated from their families and the lives they have built over decades in the United States.

The future of DACA—and the futures of hundreds of thousands of Dreamers—will be argued at the U.S. Supreme Court on November 12, 2019. The Court could hand down a ruling as soon as February 2020 determining if Dreamers will lose the ability to live, study, and work in the United States.