“We applaud President Biden for acting swiftly to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and propose legislation making the program permanent and Dreamers eligible for citizenship. We look forward to working with the new administration and Congress to ensure that these outstanding young people can make decisions about their education, jobs, or serving in the military, and keep contributing their best to America, the only country they have ever called home.
For far too long, DACA recipients and other Dreamers, brought to our country as children and American in every way but their immigration status, have languished in unacceptable legal and political limbo. That is why it is also important for Congress to finally act to provide permanent legal protections and provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. Lawmakers should quickly act on the Biden administration’s immigration proposal, which includes a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers among other long-needed reforms.
We are gratified that the Biden administration is also acting to correct a number of misguided immigration and visa policies, many of which affected international students and fed a perception that the United States no longer welcomes students from across the globe. Rescinding the so-called “Muslim travel ban” is one example, and we look forward to the new administration taking additional steps to safeguard our country’s status as the destination of choice for the most talented international students and scholars.”