FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2021

HACU calls for Congress to take action on DACA and legislation for Dreamers

SAN ANTONIO – The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) has released the following statement calling on Congress to take action on DACA and legislation for Dreamers.

HACU urges the U.S. Senate to pass either the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 (H.R. 1177/S.348) or the American Dream and Promise Act (H.R. 6) to codify the immigration status of hundreds of thousands of youths protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. After nine years of the DACA program and more than 20 years without passing any version of the Dream Act, the enactment of either of those bipartisan bills is a national imperative that the U.S. Senate should no longer avoid. HACU and its more than 500 member institutions implore the U.S. Senate to act swiftly on this legislation.

Such action by the U.S. Senate is made even more pressing by the recent federal court ruling suspending new DACA applications from being approved, and injecting uncertainty into the continuing viability of DACA. These are young Americans who have been carrying exemplary lives as K-12 and college students, and many already as professionals and model citizens, without the benefit of citizenship. While we hope the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reverses the unfortunate actions taken by the district court, the estimated two million Dreamers who have proven themselves as worthy Americans urgently need and deserve the passage of one of the two bills pending Senate action.

HACU and the 569 Hispanic-Serving Institutions it represents, which educate the majority of DACA students, urge Congress to pass Dream Act legislation without further delay. Codifying the status of Dreamers would strengthen our nation with hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients and nearly two million of model young adults, Dreamers. Three of every four Americans agree that Dreamers have earned the right to full citizenship of the only country they know as their home.  

About HACU
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, founded in 1986, represents more than 500 colleges and universities in the United States, Latin America, Spain and school districts throughout the U.S. HACU is the only national association representing existing and emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). The Association’s headquarters are located in San Antonio, Texas, with regional offices in Washington, D.C and Sacramento, California. 

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HACU Media Contact:
Norma Jean Revilla-Garcia
Executive Director of Communications and Marketing
Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities
210-576-3206

Christopher de Hoyos
Assistant Director of Communications and Social Media
Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities
210-576-3242