So far, 26 Senate Democrats and 72 House members are calling on Education Sec. Betsy DeVos to reverse an intentional decision to block Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and other undocumented students from billions in emergency funds that the department received to assist students with expenses like child care and housing during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“DACA recipients attending institutions of higher education across the country face challenges like other students, many with the added burden of supporting their parents and siblings or being the first in their families to attend college,” the senators write in their letter. “These students should not be excluded from critical emergency financial aid. Indeed, those who are especially vulnerable to economic hardship are exactly who these funds were designed to help.”
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As Politico reported earlier last month and the group of senators led by Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado note in their letter, the Education secretary and astroturf protester backer made the gross decision to block undocumented students from emergency relief even though “the law includes no explicit restrictions on which students could receive the emergency grants,” the report said.
“The statutory text of the CARES Act allows DACA recipients to receive emergency financial aid and establishes broad flexibility to each institution of higher education to meet the unique needs of their students,” the senators tell DeVos. “Because the CARES Act is not title IV funding, it cannot carry the restrictions of title IV funding, and does not prohibit DACA recipients from receiving support.”
“Ensuring that all students have secure housing, food, and health care during a time of economic turmoil is a key part of keeping families safe and indoors and to ending the COVID-19 pandemic,” they continue. “Furthermore, we have seen disturbing data on how COVID-19 has disproportionately affected communities of color. Blocking support for DACA recipients will only worsen this crisis and harm our families and communities.”
The letter from House Democrats, led by Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, notes that in addition to blocking relief for DACA recipient students, the department has been incompetent in its overall response. “It was reported that as of April 20 only $6 million of this funding has been disbursed to colleges and universities,” they write. “Students across the nation are in financial distress as they struggle to cover expenses related to campus disruptions due to COVID-19, including food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and childcare costs. The funding your department has not provided would go a long way to addressing these needs.”
But even during a pandemic, there’s no pause on the administration’s anti-immigrant animus. “As students and families across the country struggle to deal with the public health and economic consequences of the COVID-19 emergency, we must work together to help all students in need, regardless of immigration status,” the senators continued in their letter. “We, again, urge you to immediately reverse your decision to exclude DACA recipients from CARES Act emergency financial aid grants to students.”