Good morning. Today we return to the true Friday Letter: written and published on a Friday morning. Typically, I write the letter on Thursday and publish first thing Friday morning. This week I waited because of all the email traffic I received regarding DACA…Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. This policy, in case you are unfamiliar, gives certain rights to children who were brought to the United States by their parents as minors. Both parents and minors came to the U.S. as “illegal immigrants”. However, minors under the DACA policy have been allowed to go “legally” through our school systems, serve in our armed forces, and obtain work permits. Each person eligible for such rights must reapply for an exception from deportation every two years and only those brought to the US as minors are eligible.
The state of Washington has had a long standing policy of not using residency as a determiner of eligibility for higher education. Residency has only been used as an indicator of which tuition one might pay. We have welcomed students, undocumented or otherwise, under our mission to transform lives…any life…because we feel that an educated population is the only way to resolve our workforce and social needs and leads to a more self-sustaining and successful future. As federal policy potentially changes over the next few months (as announced this last Monday), the future of DACA is uncertain.
Locally, we stay true to our pledge of an inclusive and hate-free campus. This pledge, signed jointly by UWB and Cascadia, is the hallmark of our commitment to educate and serve any learner that walks through our doors. This local commitment does not stop at our doors. This week I received the following email from Mayor Andy Rheaume of Bothell:
I’m reaching out to let you know my heart is with your DACA students. If you are planning a meeting with students please let us know if it would be helpful for us to attend. When Trump initiated the travel ban, the city expressed that our police have not and will not prioritize arresting or working to deport DACA students or any other law abiding resident/student. I believe we have something in writing on the city website documenting the city’s position in this matter. Let us know if we can be of assistance.
Today at lunch, I will be meeting with all of the Mayors of the cities in our broader eastside community. I will be asking them to make the same commitment.
On the state level, our higher education system in Washington also sent a letter to President Trump. You can read it here. Every president of every higher education institution in the state signed it. While we must abide by any eventual change to the law, institutions of higher education are fighting to allow this group of immigrants to remain a part of the fabric of our community.
But our state is not just committed through its higher education leaders. I would encourage you to google the Dream Act of 2017, a bipartisan resolution to resolve this issue lawfully and in support of young people who qualified for DACA. Major businesses, many in Congress, and national organizations such as the America Council on Education are supporting this legislation.
The governor (a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives) has unequivocally announced his support for such legislation:
“While we remain relentless in our efforts to keep these young people home, the real solution is for Congress to act immediately to pass the bipartisan DREAM Act. The DREAM Act would provide the lawful reassurance and protections these young people need. The ‘build a wall’ and ‘deport them all’ mentality in the White House is an affront to the principles this nation was founded on and an irresponsible response to our outdated immigration system. Congress must seize this urgent challenge and stand up for Dreamers, now.
“More than 17,000 Dreamers call Washington state home. The cruel action [announced on Monday] by the president threatens the ability of these young men and women — many of whom know of no other place to call home — to pursue the incredible opportunities our nation promised them five years ago.
“Washington state will consider every option possible to challenge the repeal of DACA, including legal action, coordination with other states and any executive action that could help protect Dreamers.”
Finally, I offer one last resource. The card viewable here gives you an easy way to understand DACA and to help advise students of their rights under that policy. Please take a moment to save the image or print it out for your office.
Rule of Law is important, certainly. However, when the country’s approach to immigration is flawed or outdated, then exceptions, changes and improvements must be made. This was the original reason for DACA. On our campus, when we make a mistake, we defer to what is best for the student. We do not remove the student, we do not put up walls, we do not ridicule them for being on our campus. Instead, we work towards a reasonable solution. At least, that is my expectation for how we approach issues when we find fault with ourselves.
I hope you will encourage Congress to act timely to also find a reasonable solution during the next six month before the window closes on DACA.
Integrate It! 
