10,000 Degrees remains committed to supporting all students and their families, regardless of race, religion, gender identity, or immigration status. Rest assured we will continue to work to achieve equity in education and in doing so help our students bring about the change they want to see in the world.
A Statement By Our President & CEO
Dear 10,000 Degrees Community,
We are filled with joy and relief! We applaud the United States Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling to uphold the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). This decision restores the program completely, and both initial and renewal applications should be accepted by USCIS. It also means that our DACA students and students who are undocumented are free to pursue their college and career journeys without the immediate threat of deportation.
This is a historic victory for the thousands of Dreamers who every day, make vital contributions to their families, our communities, and our nation. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their perseverance in ensuring that DACA lives – for now.
At 10,000 Degrees, we remain a steadfast ally to the 820,000 DACA recipients nationwide and to the 75,000 undocumented students enrolled in California public colleges and universities.
10,000 Degrees remains committed to:
- Advocate for permanent legislative action that protects all undocumented students so that they are free to pursue their academic and professional aspirations.
- Support students who wish to pursue higher education regardless of status, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, gender identity, or religion.
- Advocate for inclusive higher education public policy that protects the potential of all students regardless of status.
- Provide scholarship assistance to qualified students regardless of status.
Today, we take the time and space to celebrate the bravery and hard work of the thousands of Dreamers and activists who led the charge with unimaginable courage and determination.
The future belongs to our students. We stand with you. Always.
With love and solidarity,
Kim Mazzuca and all of us at 10,000 Degrees
community Resources
We have compiled a list of organizations that assist students and their families navigate college affordability. This list is not comprehensive and we encourage students and families to reach out to local resources.
Beyond DACA: Immigration Options Every Undocumented Person Should Know
California Student Aid Commission
University of California (Undocumented Student Resources)
California State University (Undocumented Student Resources)
Federal Student Aid (Part of the US Department of Education)
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra Office of Immigrant Assistance
Community College Consortium for Immigrant Education
ABOUT DACA
(Excerpts from Department of Homeland Security)
The Department of Homeland Security established DACA through the issuance of a memorandum on June 15, 2012. The program purported to use deferred action—an act of prosecutorial discretion meant to be applied only on an individualized case-by-case basis—to confer certain benefits to illegal aliens that Congress had not otherwise acted to provide by law.[1] Specifically, DACA provided certain illegal aliens who entered the United States before the age of sixteen a period of deferred action and eligibility to request employment authorization.
On November 20, 2014, the Department issued a new memorandum, expanding the parameters of DACA and creating a new policy called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (“DAPA”). Among other things—such as the expansion of the coverage criteria under the 2012 DACA policy to encompass aliens with a wider range of ages and arrival dates, and lengthening the period of deferred action and work authorization from two years to three—the November 20, 2014 memorandum directed USCIS “to establish a process, similar to DACA, for exercising prosecutorial discretion through the use of deferred action, on a case-by-case basis,” to certain aliens who have “a son or daughter who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.”
On January 25, 2017, President Trump issued Executive Order No. 13,768, “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States.” In that Order, the President directed federal agencies to “[e]nsure the faithful execution of the immigration laws . . . against all removable aliens,” and established new immigration enforcement priorities.
ABOUT the supreme court decision
In June of 2019, the United States Supreme Court announced that it would hear the Administration’s appeal, led by the California case known as the Department of Homeland Security vs. Regents of the University of California.
The decision returns the issue to the Department of Homeland Security and means that the Administration cannot immediately end the DACA program, which provides protection against deportation and work authorization for thousands of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children.
For more information, contact:
Traci Lanier
Vice President, External Affairs
Phone: 415.451.4005
Email: tlanier (at) 10000degrees.org