Gov. Jared Polis and Fort Lewis College are hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and its protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, a policy that was challenged Tuesday in front of the court’s justices.
President Donald Trump’s administration rescinded DACA two years ago, but courts have kept the protections in place. A Supreme Court decision on the policy is not likely until 2020, according to The Associated Press.
Polis took a moment Tuesday to call on the court to continue to protect the 14,000 DACA recipients living in Colorado. Ending the policy would be detrimental to the state, he said.
“It will be disruptive to our economy, to their employers, to our institutions of higher education and to the future of our state,” he said.
FLC joined in signing an amicus brief asking that the high court continue the DACA policy. The brief was signed by 165 colleges and universities.
“DACA is enlightened and humane; it represents the very best of America. It provides legal certainty for a generation of hard-working, high-achieving and determined young people who love this country and were raised here,” the brief says. “... We should not be pushing them out of the country or returning them to a life in the shadows.”
FLC did not respond to questions Tuesday about why it joined the amicus brief.
However, President Tom Stritikus lauded the brief and DACA on Twitter, saying DACA has been a huge success for the immigrants it protects and the communities and campuses where they live and study.
“Their triumph is our triumph,” he wrote.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
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