Over 9,300 responses were submitted ahead of Monday’s deadline for public comment on the proposed rule strengthening the Obama administration program that has allowed hundreds of thousands of young immigrants to work legally and live with some peace of mind, Law360 reports.
Many of the comments in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program came from the Daily Kos community—thank you. Support for the popular and successful program also came from a number of universities that led successful legal efforts to save the program after it was rescinded by the previous administration.
In their comment, Princeton University and Microsoft said they were “proud to join together in support of the proposed rule because we know first-hand the importance of DACA and the invaluable contributions that DACA recipients have made to higher education, the economy, and our country.
“Indeed, DACA is so important to us that Princeton and Microsoft filed suit, along with a Princeton alumna who was then an enrolled student, to stop its attempted rescission in 2017,” the comment continued. “We and our co-litigants eventually prevailed in the Supreme Court. We applaud the administration for its efforts to strengthen and fortify this important policy.”
The University of California (UC) system similarly sued the previous administration over DACA’s termination. In its state of support for the proposed rule, UC leaders said DACA “has been extraordinarily successful, benefitting hundreds of thousands of DACA participants, along with their families, schools, employers, and American society more generally.”
“UC leaders propose several improvements to DACA, most notably modifying date and age-based eligibility criteria,” a statement said. “The proposed changes would protect more people who were brought to the U.S. as children but who are currently excluded from the DACA program based on somewhat arbitrary date requirements.” The statement further called for reducing application fees and more than doubling the renewal period to five years. Law360 noted that many public comments submitted called on the Biden administration to go further “than the regulations set out.”
More than two dozen state attorneys general also voiced their support for the proposed rule in a comment letter led by California’s Rob Bonta. Bonta succeeded Xavier Becerra, who also led the state in a lawsuit against the previous administration. Becerra is currently serving as Health and Human Services secretary. “California is home to more DACA recipients than any other state in the country,” Bonta’s office said.
“From defending DACA in court to supporting new federal efforts to fortify it, California will continue to lead the way in standing up for our nation’s Dreamers,” Bonta said. “DACA is critical, it is needed, and it’s important we get these updated regulations done. DACA recipients—many of whom are on the front lines of this pandemic—deserve to have peace of mind about their status. Bottom line: For hundreds of thousands of Dreamers across the country, home is here. They continue to show up for our communities and we’re going to keep showing up for them.” Click here for a list of other states in the effort.
“The Biden administration’s proposed rule comes in response to a federal court ruling in July that declared DACA unlawful, citing procedural issues,” UC said. “The ruling halted immigration services from processing pending applications or accepting new ones and left the nation’s current DACA recipients in legal limbo.” Over 80,000 first-time applications that were stalled due to delays were halted following the ruling. “The proposed rule would provide relief to current and future DACA recipients and could also strengthen DACA against future legal challenges,” UC continued.
Many of the comments in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program came from the Daily Kos community—thank you. Support for the popular and successful program also came from a number of universities that led successful legal efforts to save the program after it was rescinded by the previous administration.
In their comment, Princeton University and Microsoft said they were “proud to join together in support of the proposed rule because we know first-hand the importance of DACA and the invaluable contributions that DACA recipients have made to higher education, the economy, and our country.
“Indeed, DACA is so important to us that Princeton and Microsoft filed suit, along with a Princeton alumna who was then an enrolled student, to stop its attempted rescission in 2017,” the comment continued. “We and our co-litigants eventually prevailed in the Supreme Court. We applaud the administration for its efforts to strengthen and fortify this important policy.”
The University of California (UC) system similarly sued the previous administration over DACA’s termination. In its state of support for the proposed rule, UC leaders said DACA “has been extraordinarily successful, benefitting hundreds of thousands of DACA participants, along with their families, schools, employers, and American society more generally.”
“UC leaders propose several improvements to DACA, most notably modifying date and age-based eligibility criteria,” a statement said. “The proposed changes would protect more people who were brought to the U.S. as children but who are currently excluded from the DACA program based on somewhat arbitrary date requirements.” The statement further called for reducing application fees and more than doubling the renewal period to five years. Law360 noted that many public comments submitted called on the Biden administration to go further “than the regulations set out.”
More than two dozen state attorneys general also voiced their support for the proposed rule in a comment letter led by California’s Rob Bonta. Bonta succeeded Xavier Becerra, who also led the state in a lawsuit against the previous administration. Becerra is currently serving as Health and Human Services secretary. “California is home to more DACA recipients than any other state in the country,” Bonta’s office said.
“From defending DACA in court to supporting new federal efforts to fortify it, California will continue to lead the way in standing up for our nation’s Dreamers,” Bonta said. “DACA is critical, it is needed, and it’s important we get these updated regulations done. DACA recipients—many of whom are on the front lines of this pandemic—deserve to have peace of mind about their status. Bottom line: For hundreds of thousands of Dreamers across the country, home is here. They continue to show up for our communities and we’re going to keep showing up for them.” Click here for a list of other states in the effort.
“The Biden administration’s proposed rule comes in response to a federal court ruling in July that declared DACA unlawful, citing procedural issues,” UC said. “The ruling halted immigration services from processing pending applications or accepting new ones and left the nation’s current DACA recipients in legal limbo.” Over 80,000 first-time applications that were stalled due to delays were halted following the ruling. “The proposed rule would provide relief to current and future DACA recipients and could also strengthen DACA against future legal challenges,” UC continued.