CTA has joined 14 other educational entities and organizations to file an amicus (friend of the court) brief on behalf of plaintiffs in lawsuits filed in federal court against the Trump administration’s decision to rescind DACA.
The coalition includes NEA, the California School Boards Association, the California Faculty Assocation, numerous individual school districts, county offices of education, unions and other organizations.
DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is a federal policy created in 2012. It allows young undocumented immigrants who have come to the United States as minors to apply for renewable two-year periods of deferred action on deportation. California has about 220,000 of the country’s 800,000 DACA recipients (also called Dreamers), who have been able to live, work and study in the U.S.
DACA is set to terminate on March 5, 2018. Lawsuits opposing the decision to rescind and requesting a preliminary injunction have been filed by plaintiffs including the University of California, the city of San Jose, and several states including California.
The amicus briefs by CTA and other organizations are very specific regarding education and the “serious harm” caused by rescinding DACA to students, schools and educators. For example, the brief that CTA and others filed in support of the University of California states: “DACA gives young people a reason and an opportunity to succeed in school. By taking away the prospect of advanced learning and gainful employment, DACA rescission will rob society of the contributions of motivated, invested DACA recipients.
“DACA recipients who have already completed their studies will lose the ability to obtain legal employment, squandering not only their own hard work, but the resources that their schools and teachers have invested in them. The end of DACA would also deprive school districts of qualified teachers and mentors, diminish diversity in the teaching corps, and destabilize school environments.”
