David Clifford | Special to the Daily
Colorado Mountain College has joined over 165 higher education institutions by signing an amicus brief in support of the Obama-era, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Since 2012, DACA has offered temporary protection from deportation to immigrants who came to the United States as young children or infants. The program also grants DACA recipients eligibility for work permits within the U.S.
However, in September 2017, the Trump administration announced plans to do away with the program, which has assisted over 700,000 immigrants.
“DACA recipients are American in every way. They built their lives here and contribute to our state and region, our campuses and communities and our local economies,” Carrie Hauser, Colorado Mountain College President and CEO, said in a news release statement. “Our college, which has been open and accessible to all students since its founding in 1965, is proud to support DACA recipients. We believe in standing up for and protecting vulnerable populations when their futures are in question.”
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the DACA case Nov. 12 and could hand down a ruling as early as February 2020.
The decision will determine whether or not Dreamers will lose their ability to live, study and work in the United States according to the news release.
“The Supreme Court should agree with what federal courts across the country have made clear [that] the administration’s decision to terminate DACA was unlawful and has caused irreparable damage to Dreamers and their families and loved ones, as well as to our higher education institutions,” Hauser stated.
Colorado Mountain College has been ranked by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the country’s most affordable colleges offering bachelor’s degrees.
Additionally, around the same time Colorado Mountain College signed the amicus brief, an anonymous donor contributed $500,000 toward the college’s Fund Sueños income-share agreement program.
Now in its second year, Fund Sueños offers income-share agreements to Dreamers and others with work authorization in the U.S. who remain ineligible to receive federal financial assistance to attend college.
“Fund Sueños is the first program of its kind in the nation and it is funded entirely through the generosity of donors to the CMC Foundation,” Kristin Heath Colon, Colorado Mountain College Foundation CEO, said in the news release. “These philanthropists share our commitment to all students, regardless of background, nationality or socioeconomic status.”
