In the wake of President Donald Trump’s decision to sunset an Obama amnesty program, university administrators are speaking up and demanding Congress renew the program.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced that it would be unwinding DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that shields illegal aliens who claim to have been brought to the United States as children from being deported while they pursue college degrees and work in the United States.
The program, created by executive order by President Obama, was challenged by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Republican attorneys general who argued Obama had no lawful authority to issue the amnesty. However, the lawsuit had not completely worked its way through the legal system when Trump was elected and he decided to sunset the program rather than defend it in court.
Trump’s decision rankled university officials across the nation, including those in Texas, and they came out of the woodwork to posture themselves in favor of DACA.
In a statement, Bill McRaven, the chancellor of the University of Texas System, referenced the various contributions that “DREAMers” (a term used by the left to describe illegal aliens attending American colleges) make to society. He went on to state that the University of Texas would continue to support not just these DREAMers, but programs such as in-state tuition for illegal immigrants as well in spite of Trump’s repeal of DACA.
“For years, Texas has supported students who were born in foreign countries but were brought here as children and raised in the U.S. In fact, Texas was among the first states to grant these Texas high school graduates the opportunity to pay in-state tuition, a benefit The University of Texas System continues to support,” said McRaven. “Congress must now act quickly to provide a bridge for these students to remain in the U.S. and become citizens.”
Advocating for liberal policies is nothing new for McRaven or the UT System. The University has long lobbied for in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. It has also lobbied the Texas Legislature against concealed carry on campus, ending tuition set asides, and lowering tuition rates.
The University also has a department of “Diversity and Community Engagement,” which employs several full-time staff members, some earning six-figure salaries to promote left-wing activism on campus.
While it is no surprise that far-left university bureaucrats are pushing their left wing political agendas, Texans should be offended that their tax dollars are used support it. Taxpayers should demand that lawmakers in the Texas Legislature clip the wings of educrats like McRaven and remind them that their job is to educate students, not indoctrinate them, and to advocate for expanded knowledge, not liberal policies.
