As faculty in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Berkeley, we are saddened and deeply troubled by the announcement that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, also known as the Dreamers Act, is scheduled to be suspended.
We echo UC President Janet Napolitano’s call for “Congress to immediately pass bipartisan legislation that would provide a permanent solution” for Dreamers by charting “a secure path toward citizenship,” and we applaud her commitment to maintaining structures of support for DACA students throughout the UC system.
We reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that the Department of Spanish and Portuguese will remain a welcoming place for all students in the months ahead, and we stand firmly with Dreamers, their families, and their friends during these difficult times.