University of California officials on Monday sent a letter of appeal to California’s congressional delegation, urging them to take the lead in building bipartisan support for law that protect the nation’s Dreamers.Getty Images
In the letter to California’s congressional delegation, UC President Janet Napolitano and all ten UC chancellors said the issue is of critical importance to the state and the university. There are roughly 220,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) permit-holders in California. UC has approximately 4,000 undocumented students, and a large number of those students have been previously covered by DACA.
"UC Dreamers represent the very best of our country — they are role models to their peers and critical to our nation’s progress," Napolitano and the chancellors wrote. "To strip them of DACA will upend their lives and the lives of their families." They also write that ending DACA protections for students, "puts their ability to continue their educational pursuits at substantial risk."