UC part of joint legal motion to halt repeal of DACA program

The University of California, along with other organizations and individuals who have sued the Trump administration over its rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, today (Nov. 1) jointly asked a federal judge to keep the program operating while legal motions proceed.

Other plaintiffs in the case include a group of states led by California, the county of Santa Clara, the city of San Jose, six individual DACA recipients and Service Employees International Union Local 521.

The joint motion argues that the federal government violated federal procedures, failed to justify its decision and did not undergo the proper notice-and-comment process required to rescind DACA. The motion asks the court to maintain DACA pending a final court ruling.

“As a result of the termination of the program, the University and its students will lose the vital contributions that DACA recipients have made as students and employees,” President Janet Napolitano wrote in one declaration.

“The civic life of the school will be diminished, the exchange of ideas will be reduced, teaching and research will be impaired, and diversity of viewpoints and experiences will be reduced.”

To support its case, the university also filed approximately 20 declarations from students, faculty and administrators from across the UC system that demonstrate the harmful effects of rescinding DACA. UC has approximately 4,000 undocumented students, a substantial number of whom are DACA recipients.

In addition, a broad range of organizations and leaders filed friend-of-the-court (“amicus”) briefs making strong, multi-faceted challenges to the rescission of DACA. Organizations filing amicus briefs included 79 institutions of higher education, local governments in 26 major cities, a number of current and former law enforcement leaders, dozens of civil rights and legal services organizations and 108 leading technology companies, among others.

Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco will hear oral arguments in the case on December 20.

The university continues to support its undocumented students by:

  • Allowing qualifying undocumented students with at least three years in California high schools to pay in-state tuition;
  • Maintaining the DREAM loan program for financial aid;
  • Supporting campus-based student service centers; and
  • Directing campus police not to contact, detain, question or arrest individuals based on suspected undocumented status, or to enter agreements to undertake joint efforts to make arrests for federal immigration law violations.