The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration and TheDream.US announced the submission of an amicus brief filed with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas v. United States in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The brief highlights emerging data from TheDream.US and asserts the “enormous and positive impact” DACA recipients have had “on their employers, their families, and the U.S. economy as a whole.” The brief was drafted by a team at Goodwin Procter led by David Zimmer, a partner in Goodwin’s Supreme Court and Appellate practice.

The 168 institutions and organizations supporting this brief represent the diverse landscape of contemporary higher education, spanning across 32 states and the District of Columbia. This inclusive group includes state university systems, research institutions, Hispanic-serving and historically Black colleges, faith-based institutions, private schools, community colleges, and nonprofits. Their collective endorsement underscores the crucial role immigrant students play in various postsecondary settings and attests to the sector expertise represented in this brief.

The brief includes the following three sections attesting to DACA recipients’ expansive contributions.

• DACA recipients graduating from college match or outperform their peers on key metrics and are making significant contributions to the most important sectors of our economy.
• DACA recipients achieve social mobility and support their children and, in many cases, their parents and other family members.
• DACA’s end would be a blow to higher-education institutions of all types as well as their students and graduates.

Trinity Washington University is proudly one of the signatories of this brief.

Read the full brief here.