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Duke Joins Amicus Brief Challenging White House Rules on DACA Students

Duke is one of 19 leading research universities who have signed on to an amici brief supporting plaintiffs challenging President Trump’s new rules covering the young people participating in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program.

The case combines actions filed by the University of California system, the states of California, Maryland and Minnesota, the city of San Jose and a half-dozen students affected by the new DACA rules. It will be heard in US District Court in the Northern District of California.

The 19 universities all have DACA students enrolled. The brief provides short bios for some of the students and notes the obstacles they have overcome to make it to college and the contributions they are making both to their communities and to the university.

“The DACA students at amici institutions were selected because they are outstanding students,” the brief states. “Like their classmates, these young people were valedictorians, student government leaders, varsity athletes, inventors, academic award winners, accomplished artists, and role models for younger children in their communities. And like many of their classmates, they are the pride of the neighborhoods in which they grew up—‘local kids who made good.’”

The full text of the brief can be found here.