On June 11 the Department of Education (DOE) issued an emergency rule preventing colleges from granting virus relief funds through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act to foreign and undocumented students, including tens of thousands of students who are protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, DACA, also known as Dreamers. The Trump administration is using the economic crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic as the rationale for preventing foreign and undocumented students from receiving CARES relief, part of the administrations efforts to limit legal immigration.
Undocumented students do not qualify for federal financial aid funds, but the CARE emergency grants do not fall under that category. When the virus relief funds were initially announced in April, under a nonbinding guidance the DOE issued in April, colleges were advised to only give relief funds to students who typically qualify for federal financial aid, excluding international students and beneficiaries of DACA.
Dreamers contribute $460.3B to the U.S. economy, and DACA recipients paid $4 billion in taxes to the U.S. government in 2017.
Legal immigration is a key issue in the 2020 presidential campaign, and limiting immigration has been a major rallying point in President Trump’s platform. The Trump administration has filed to end DACA and the Supreme Court is expected to rule later this year. If the DACA program is ruled illegal, most DACA recipients will keep the current two-year protection that is in place until President Donald Trump or his Democratic successor takes the oath of office in January 2021.
Godoy Law Office is an established immigration law firm in Chicago and Lombard with DACA attorneys who are ready to help you interpret the law as it applies in your case and apply for deferred action if you are eligible. Contact us online or call today at 855-554-6369.
