August 1, 2019
Dear Presidents' Alliance Member,
|
We write to invite you to join two
amicus
briefs: one in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the other in support of Optional Practical Training (OPT).
The Alliance is partnering with
Perkins Coie
to coordinate an
amicus
brief for higher education institutions in support of DACA in front of the Supreme Court. Read more below and use this
link
to express your institution’s interest to join (completing the form does not obligate you to join).
As
previously shared
, the Alliance is also partnering with
Jenner & Block
to coordinate an
amicus
brief in the ongoing
Washtech
litigation involving OPT. Use this
link
to express your institution’s interest to join (again, completing the form does not obligate you to join) and read below for more.
Finally, we share some helpful resources and op-eds regarding processing delays, the potential end of DACA, and the economic contributions by immigrant alumni.
Thank you for your support.
Miriam Feldblum, Executive Director, and Jose Magaña-Salgado, Director of Policy and Communications
Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
|
Amicus Opportunities for Institutions
|
|
|
|
Amicus in Support of DACA
|
In light of the Supreme Court’s decision to consolidate and hear all outstanding litigation regarding the rescission of DACA, the Alliance is collaborating with Bruce Spiva and Amanda Callais at Perkins Coie on a pro bono basis to draft and submit an
amicus
brief by the October 4, 2019 deadline. Bruce Spiva is the Managing Partner at Perkins Coie’s Washington, D.C. office.
For information on how to join,
click here
.
|
|
|
|
|
The Presidents’ Alliance once again is partnering with
Ishan Bhabha
and
Tom Perrelli
at
Jenner & Block
to coordinate a higher education focused
amicus
brief. This
amicus
brief in the
WashTech
case will lay out the important educational role of Optional Practical Training (OPT) for international students, and will be open to colleges and universities to join. For information on how to join,
click here
.
|
|
|
|
|
Analysis of Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019
|
|
|
|
As you know, the House recently passed H.R.1044, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, with its companion bill currently awaiting action in the Senate. You can read our letter urging Senate action
here
. The American Immigration Lawyers Association recently released a
policy brief
analyzing the legislation and its potential impacts. Some toplines include that the bill (taken from the policy brief):
- “[I]ncludes a ‘do no harm provision,’ which would protect all employment-based visa applicants already in the immigrant visa queue . . . provided that the applicant is the beneficiary of an employment-based immigrant visa petition approved before the bill’s enactment.”
- “[W]ould move green card wait times forward for foreign nationals who have waited the longest in the green card lines, particularly those from India and China awaiting a visa in the EB-2, EB-3, and EB-5 visa backlogs.”
- “[W]ould increase the per-country limit for family-sponsored immigrants from 7% to 15%, which represents an increase from 15,820 to 33,900 family sponsored green cards that a single country could receive in a single fiscal year.”
You can read the entire policy brief
here
.
|
|
|
|
The Stakes in Immigration
|
|
|
|
"When USCIS no longer recognizes itself as the benefits agency Congress intended; when the line between USCIS and ICE substantially blurs; when USCIS’s policies act to stymie our legal immigration system rather than facilitate it, all of us suffer."
Recently, former Director of USCIS Leon Rodriguez wrote an op-ed on the transformation of USCIS from a customer-oriented "benefits agency" to an enforcement agency and on the causes of rising backlogs and delays for legal immigration at USCIS. You can read his op-ed
here
.
Angelica Reyes, Pasadena City College and UCLA alumna and a teacher with DACA, published a compelling op-ed in the Los Angeles Times on the impact the end of DACA will have on public classrooms, including hers. You can read her op-ed
here
.
The Washington Post published a heart-wrenching
story
of a Trinity Washington University alumna, a Dream.US scholar and her husband, a TPS recipient, leaving to go live and work in Canada - due to the deep uncertainty and anxiety about their professional and personal futures here. Also see ACE President Ted Mitchell's
letter.
Finally, New American Economy recently released an insightful, state level tool (which you can view
here)
spotlighting that first and second generation immigrants constitute nearly 45% of founders of Fortune 500 companies. This group of founders includes those who came to the U.S. as international students and their children and those who came as part of family or humanitarian migration and their children.
|
|
|
|
|
|
