AZMEX I3 10 DEC 2016
Note: Many were not aware that legal immigrant students needed "protection".
Thx
Arizona universities ask Trump to protect immigrant students
Posted: Dec 09, 2016 12:39 PM MST
Updated: Dec 09, 2016 2:31 PM MST
By Bob Christie, Associated Press
http://www.cbs5az.com/story/34017369/arizona-universities-ask-trump-to-protect-immigrant-students?autostart=true
PHOENIX (AP) -
The board that oversees Arizona's three state universities has voted to urge president-elect Donald Trump to protect students who were illegally brought into the county when they were children.
The Board of Regents voted unanimously Friday to send a letter to Trump applauding his efforts to boost border security but saying that he should work with Congress to protect the students.
The board rejected any effort to designate the universities as "sanctuary campuses."
Trump campaigned on ending President Barack Obama's immigration actions, including the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program known as DACA.
That program has given work permits and relief from deportation to more than 700,000 young immigrants, about 27,000 in Arizona.
The three universities currently have 240 DACA students but many more are likely in coming years.
- This story has been corrected to reflect the number of DACA approvals in Arizona is about 27,000, not 53,000.
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Board of Regents asks Trump to protect DACA students
Phil Villarreal
1:21 PM, Dec 9, 2016
2 hours ago
http://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/board-of-regents-asks-trump-to-protect-daca-students
DACA Students Uncertain About Future Under Trump Administration
TUCSON (KGUN9_TV) - The Arizona Board of Regents drafted an open letter to President-elect Donald Trump Friday, asking him to protect Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students.
"Students who were brought to our country when they were children in most cases lacked the capacity to violate our immigration laws and they desire to better themselves through the opportunities that higher education provides," Regent Jay Heiler said in a statement. "While the board remains committed to complying with all state and federal laws while protecting the civil and legal rights of all students, we respectfully ask President-elect Trump and his administration to work with Congress to design and provide relief for these students within the overall approach to immigration enforcement and reform."
The board drafted the letter due to concerns that the Trump administration will take away rights of DACA students. Currently, DACA students who reside in Arizona pay in-state tuition rates.
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Arizona regents to Trump: Here's how to keep 'Dreamers' here as in-state students
By Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services
Updated 3 hrs ago (0)
http://tucson.com/news/local/education/arizona-regents-to-trump-here-s-how-to-keep-dreamers/article_63593b34-be3c-11e6-bfb7-772ea65d4d74.html
PHOENIX — Arizona regents voted today to tell President-elect Trump how he can legally allow "dreamers" to remain in this country while avoiding the whole hot-button question of amnesty.
The letter makes the legal argument that those who were brought to this country illegally as children "lacked meaningful capacity to have violated our immigration laws."
"Therefore, the case for deportation would be legally weak,'' the letter reads.
But regent Jay Heiler, who crafted the letter the board unanimously approved, made it clear he believes that any relief has to come from Congress. He contends President Obama acted illegally in 2012 in creating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The issue for the board is more than academic. It goes to the question of how much universities — and community colleges for that matter — have to charge students for tuition.
A 2006 voter-approved law says anyone who is "not a citizen or legal resident of the United States or who is without lawful immigration status is not entitled to classification as an in-state student" and denies them any type of financial assistance that comes from state funds.
In 2015, however, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Arthur Anderson said the federal Department of Homeland Security considers those accepted into the DACA program to be here legally. He said DHS issues them Employment Authorization Documents permitting them to work — documents Arizona law says are a form of permissible identification for certain benefits.
And that, Anderson said, makes DACA recipients "lawfully present" in this country and therefore eligible for in-state tuition.
That ruling most immediately affected students in the Maricopa Community College system. But the regents voted almost immediately to offer the same in-state tuition to those with DACA status.
Regents staffers said today the best figures they have show 240 students who meet that qualification.
The problem is that Trump, who railed against illegal immigration during his campaign, can immediately rescind Obama's program when he takes office Jan. 20. That would leave the dreamers without that protected status, forcing the regents to rescind the in-state tuition.
Today's letter is designed to give Trump a legal option, at least for the dreamers, but in a way that does not force him to renege on his promise there will be no amnesty.
The president-elect has given indications he's amenable to such a plan.
"We're going to work something out that's going to make people happy and proud," Trump told Time magazine.
"They got brought here at a very young age, they've worked here, they've gone to school here," he said. "Some were good students. Some have wonderful jobs. And they're in never-never land because they don't know what's going to happen."
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