Janet Napolitano, the president of the US University of California (UC), says that Congress should pass legislation to protect young undocumented immigrants, including students.
The UC press release saw Napolitano joined by Leon Panetta, the former Defense Secretary, James Clapper, the former director of National Intelligence, and Madeline Albright, the former Secretary of State, in writing to leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives, calling on them to pass legislation protecting recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program before the end of 2017. The deferred action program was created in 2012 by President Barack Obama and gave undocumented immigrants who came to the US as minors renewable two-year permits, protecting them from deportation and allowing them to work in the country legally.
In the letter, Napolitano points out that the consequence of Congress being unable to come to a legislative solution would be as many as almost 800,000 Dreamers becoming at risk of deportation from the US early in 2018. She added that 22,000 such individuals are already losing that protection and their work permits due to not renewing their status.
Napolitano says that the US government targeting Dreamers for deportation would not only divert resources away from serious threats to national security but would also cost at least $7.5 billion. The UC president urged Congress to incorporate the 2017 Dream Act into the Congressional spending bill, which must be passed by 8 December, and give the bipartisan legislation approval as soon as they can.