SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- The University of California (UC) Wednesday echoed an appeal that urges a U.S. federal judge to keep an immigration policy that provides for no immediate deportation of undocumented alien minors.
In a press release issued Wednesday, the UC echoed the voice of other organizations and individuals that have sued U.S. President Donald Trump's administration over its rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and called for keeping the scheme operating while legal motions proceed.
DACA, established by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2012 and revoked by Trump in September 2017, was an immigration policy that allowed some individuals who entered the United States as minors, mostly illegally, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for a work permit.
Together with other organizations, such as a group of U.S. states led by California, the county of Santa Clara, the city of San Jose, as well as six individual DACA recipients, the UC argued that the federal government violated federal procedures, failed to justify its decision and did not undergo the proper notice-and-comment process required to rescind DACA.
They asked the court to maintain DACA pending a final court ruling.
"As a result of the termination of the program, the University and its students will lose the vital contributions that DACA recipients have made as students and employees," UC President Janet Napolitano wrote in one declaration.
The UC has approximately 4,000 undocumented students, a substantial number of whom are DACA recipients.
The university vowed to continue support for its undocumented students by offering a series of benefits including financial aid to those students in the entire UC system.
Although the Trump administration rescinded the DACA program on Sept. 5, 2017, its full implementation was delayed six months to give the Congress time to decide how to deal with the undocumented population affected by the policy.
