Higher Education, Business Leaders, and Visionaries From Texas, Florida, and Nation Call for Bipartisan Legislative Fix
For immediate release: November 29, 2022
Contact: Diego Sánchez, Diego@presidentsalliance.org
To listen to the recording of today’s press conference, click host
Higher education and business leaders from Texas and Florida joined Dreamer community representatives and advocates at a news conference earlier today Call on Congress to provide a bipartisan legislative solution this year to address the uncertain state of DACA recipients and other DREAMers.
The call was part of “Dream Action Week” in Washington, D.C., which included college and university leaders who are members of the President’s Coalition on Higher Education and Immigration and Dreamers pursuing higher education through TheDream.US Scholarship Program to engage in bipartisan legislative solutions call.
On today’s conference call, Gregory Hale, president or Broward College In Florida, “We face an exceptionally tight labor market that limits economic expansion, and the key elements of the remedy lie before us. Dreamers strengthen our classrooms, serve our communities, and stand ready to bridge the gaps facing our nation.” workforce gap.Now is the time to eliminate the fragility that pervades the lives of Dreamers and provide the stability that will revitalize our Nation.
Indira Islands, Congressman, Delaware State University graduate, former american dream “Having DACA means I can work, drive, and go to college without fear of deportation, but there are still a lot of hurdles,” Scholar said. A path to citizenship that would remove barriers to education for driven undocumented students… Not only are we at risk of losing or not finding jobs after graduation, but this country is also facing a need more than ever for talent and Risk of skills loss. Dreamers need to be able to contribute adequately to American society.”
Michael Sorrellpresident or Paul Quinn College In Texas, said: “DACA has been transformative for students at my institution and across the country. Time to ensure bipartisan legislation that addresses the uncertain future of DACA recipients
But I also want to make a related point – Paul Quinn and many young Dreamer students across the country currently do not have DACA, largely because of ongoing legal challenges to the program. In fact, as the President’s Coalition on Higher Education and Immigration reminds us, most undocumented students currently enrolled in college or university do not have DACA status at all. “
Glenhammer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Texas Chamber of Commercesaid: “I believe that providing Dreamers with a path to American citizenship is the right thing for them and for America. But I also know that, as a business leader, providing Dreamers with permanent solutions and addressing their current Uncertainty is a workforce and an economic necessity. Right now, in Texas, there are tens of thousands of Dreamers across the state who are already working as teachers, nurses, entrepreneurs, and essential workers at major corporations. But with the future of DACA Threatened, we risk losing these valuable Texas employees, and hundreds of thousands of other DACA workers across America, unless Congress can finally pass bipartisan legislation to resolve the issue. Now it’s our lawmakers to finally deliver the long-awaited bipartisan solution It’s time for a plan.”
###
nonpartisan, nonprofit President’s Alliance for Higher Education and Immigration Bringing together university presidents and chancellors to discuss immigration issues that affect higher education, our students, our campuses, our communities, and our country. We are committed to advancing fair, forward-looking immigration policies and practices at the federal, state, and campus levels that are consistent with our heritage as an immigrant nation and our academic values of fairness and openness. The coalition is made up of more than 550 presidents and presidents of public and private colleges and universities, enrolling more than 5 million students in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
american dream is the nation’s largest college and career success program for undocumented immigrant students, awarding more than 8,750 college scholarships to Dreamers at more than 80 partner universities in 21 states and Washington, DC. We believe that everyone, no matter where they were born, should have equal access to a college education, a meaningful career, and the opportunity to contribute to the communities they call home.