QCC Stands Strong in Support of DACA

Supreme Court Begins Hearings

On November 12, the U.S. Supreme Court began deliberating on the fate of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This decision, which may be made as early as February 2020, will have a monumental impact on hundreds of thousands of “Dreamers,” who came to this country as young children, and is one that Quinsigamond Community College President Dr. Luis G. Pedraja and other college presidents are watching closely.

On October 4, President Pedraja joined over 164 colleges and universities from across the country in signing an amicus brief supporting the roughly 700,000 young immigrants who came to the United States as children and who hold DACA status. These individuals, known as “Dreamers” have received temporary protection against deportation, and have been allowed to work and attend school legally. This “friend of the court” brief was coordinated by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration to help ensure that these children are able to continue with their lives without fear of repercussions or deportation.

“Our country was founded on the principle that all are endowed with three basic rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Parents who brought their children to this country for a better way of life and future should not have those children punished for these basic human rights,” President Pedraja said, adding,  “Our College is one of inclusivity for all and this includes the Dreamers in our community.”

QCC is a diverse community and works to ensure that everyone has access to quality, affordable, higher education. Dreamers today have become doctors, nurses, business owners, police officers, early childhood educators, scientists and others who work to strengthen our society and help it prosper. They bolster economic development and contribute to state, local and federal taxes. They are the embodiment of QCC's Wyvern mascot, whose spirit serves to guard and protect our community.

Since 2012, DACA has offered temporary protection from deportation and the ability to work legally to more than 700,000 young immigrants who came to the United States as children. The program has benefited these Dreamers, including our students, their families, their communities, and our economy tremendously. On September 5, 2017, the administration announced that they were terminating the DACA program. To date, multiple courts have kept renewals ongoing for current DACA recipients, but Dreamers have still been forced to live court case to court case, uncertain about their futures and in fear of being separated.