Student Union
- By Paul Ross
Colleges, 'Dreamers' Condemn Plan to End DACA
Colleges, universities and students nationwide have condemned a plan to rescind a rule from 2012 that protects undocumented child immigrants brought to the U.S. as children by parents or family members from deportation.
In Washington, students and educators marched to the White House to protest President Donald Trump’s announcement to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) measure created by then-president Barack Obama.
Many of the young immigrants are nicknamed Dreamers because they pursue what is commonly known as the American Dream: better education and life in the prosperous U.S.
Demonstrations took place across the country in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, as thousands of Dreamers and others protested the decision made by the Trump administration to leave the DACA policy in the hands of Congress.
Among the nearly 800,000 Dreamers in the United States, about 65,000 graduate from American high schools and nearly 10,000 graduate from U.S. colleges every year.
“To have a lawful system of immigration that serves the national interest, we cannot admit everyone who would like to come here,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday in announcing the decision. “That is an open-border policy and the American people have rightly rejected it.”
WATCH: Sessions Rescinds DACA Program
Illegal immigration has been a focus of the Trump administration, which says undocumented immigrants take jobs and public funding from citizen taxpayers.
DACA makes Dreamers eligible to receive work permits and stay in the United States without risk of deportation for two years. They have been allowed to renew their work permits after being granted deferred action. But the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has stopped receiving applications for DACA since the September 5 announcement.
WATCH: DACA Changes Explained
On August 28, the American Council on Education (ACE) and 36 other educational associations - including the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and Association of American Universities - wrote a letter to Trump, lobbying to keep DACA intact.
In a September 5 letter from Harvard University, President Drew Faust said, “In the months to come, we will make every effort to have our voice heard … about the need for the protections of DACA to continue.”
Four states - Hawaii, Michigan, Oklahoma and Rhode Island - allow undocumented students to receive in-state tuition. Virginia allows to undocumented students, but only if they are part of DACA.
Sixteen states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington) have laws protecting undocumented students, and offer in-state tuition at their public colleges and universities.
Stockton University in New Jersey has labeled itself a “safe campus” under a program called Stockton Safe, which protects the identity and information of all students to the fullest extent permitted by law, which is on the school's website.
“There are DACA students on campus and we are following the state laws in place to protect our students,” Diane D’Amico, director of news and media relations at Stockton University, told VOA Student Union. “We don't know what Congress is going to do and we will continue to monitor the situation so that our students can continue their education.”
California State University-Fresno has posted information on its school website for its 1,000 Dreamers, who are among a school population of 25,000. It advises how to qualify to DACA, what rights recipients of DACA have, and what services the school offers. Fresno’s President Joseph Castro tweeted the university’s support.
Congress has until March 5, 2018, to provide an alternative to DACA before protections for Dreamers will end.
VOA Student Union reporters Zach Rayment and Max Cotton contributed to this story.
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Trump administration opens antisemitism inquiries at 5 colleges, including Columbia and Berkeley
The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.
It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.
In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.
Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.
"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.
An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."
House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."
Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.
Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.
The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.
"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."
- By VOA News
STEM, business top subjects for international students
The Times of India breaks down the most popular subjects for international students to study in the U.S.
STEM and business lead the pack. Read the full story here. (January 2025)
- By VOA News
Safety and visa difficulties among misconceptions about US colleges
U.S. News & World report addresses some of the misconceptions about U.S. colleges and universities, including the difficulty of getting a visa.
Read the full story here. (January 2025)
- By VOA News
Work opportunities help draw international students to US schools
US News & World Report details the three top factors in foreign students' decision to study in the U.S. They include research opportunities and the reputation of U.S. degrees. Read the full story here. (December 2024)
- By VOA News
British student talks about her culture shock in Ohio
A British student who did a year abroad at Bowling Green State University in Ohio talks about adjusting to life in America in a TikTok video, Newsweek magazine reports.
Among the biggest surprises? Portion sizes, jaywalking laws and dorm room beds.
Read the full story here. (December 2024)
