University invites students to DACA donut party safe space, releases pro-illegal statement

Various entities within the University of Utah came out in full force in support of illegal immigrant students as DACA came before the Supreme Court in November.

Numerous offices at the University of Utah wrote responses to the United States Supreme Court arguments over President Donald Trump’s decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2017.

The Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU) proclaimed its “unwavering support for undocumented students (with or without DACA)” in an Instagram post, and encouraged students to reach out to the University of Utah’s Dream Center, which provides support for “undocumented students and mixed-status families from college access to graduation.” 

The student leadership group also recommended that “students who are in distress” reach out to the counseling center. 

[RELATED: Calif. Governor gives more aid to DACA students]

The Dream Center also issued a statement along with the Office of Undergraduate Studies, Student Affairs, and the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion about the Supreme Court hearings. 

“On Tuesday, November 12, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments regarding the future of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),” read the statement. “The Justices are expected to make a decision as early as January 2020. Until the ruling is announced, current DACA recipients are still eligible to submit applications for renewal.”

“The Dream Center at the University of Utah is here to provide resources and support for students, faculty, and staff. Students experiencing increased distress because of the pending decision can visit the University Counseling Center.”

The statement also listed contact information for many campus and third-party DACA supporting organizations, including the ACLU of Utah, and United We Dream

The Dream Center also advertised a safe space for students to come relax and eat donuts during the DACA hearing.

[RELATED: Berkeley backs illegal students as SCOTUS hears DACA Arguments]

“If the Supreme Court decides that the DACA program was illegal to begin with then it will be the duty of all campus organizations to comply with the Court’s ruling,” University of Utah student Vincent Wetzel told Campus Reform. “Eight in ten Americans support the DACA program, but ASUU has gone a step further by embracing illegal immigrants regardless of whether they made good-faith efforts to come out of the shadows and become legally documented through the DACA process or not,” he explained, calling the statements “a bridge too far.” 

“The University of Utah has 32,0000 students but only about 150 of these are DACA recipients. I wish that our student government cared as much about issues that affect all the students on our campus such as our parking crisis as they do about virtue signaling about this niche issue,” said Wetzel.

University of Utah Associate Director of Communications Annalisa Purser told Campus Reform that the university is “committed to supporting Dreamers in their pursuit of education, and the U’s Dream Center provides support and resources to undocumented students and their families.”

“The removal of DACA could mean that many of our talented students will lose the opportunity to earn a degree and the campus will lose valuable members of its community,” Purser added. 

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