A core CMU value is that we welcome all students to our campus–regardless of their country or origin or their immigration status. A diverse student body, including ASSET and DACA students, enrich our community and add to the diversity of perspectives that makes colleges and universities in the United States unique. As the leaders of CMU, we cherish all of our students and add our voices urging Congress to quickly find a pathway that will allow current and future undocumented students, all of whom have spent years being educated in the United States, to complete their studies and become valuable community leaders.
The Trump administration announced today that the DACA program will be phased out over the next six months and urged Congress to address and resolve DACA issues. Until we know the specific details about what resolutions may be reached, it is difficult to respond intelligently. However, we can make a couple of very concrete statements. One, we will communicate openly and clearly with regard to what we can do for our students. Two, undocumented students will remain welcome on CMU campuses no differently than any other student. Three, we will continue to admit students without regard to their immigration status, including treating them as Colorado residents for tuition purposes per Colorado law. And four, we will advocate on behalf of DACA students at both the state and federal level.
CMU has and will continue to treat undocumented students and workers with respect and dignity in our classrooms and our campus community. We will not release any student’s information or employee’s information to federal officials or anyone else, as this information is protected by state and federal laws, unless we receive a lawful subpoena or warrant that requires us to do so. We have created programs to provide financial assistance to undocumented students, as we do for all of our deserving students, which we will continue to increase.
Finally, we will continue to engage Colorado’s senators and representatives in moving towards a permanent policy-based solution. It’s important for you to know where we stand – and our message to the DACA recipients in our community is simple – we stand with you.
