On Thursday, June 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a 5-4 decision that the Trump administration cannot end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which that allows individuals who came to the U.S. as children to receive two-year temporary protection from deportation, subject to renewal, and to become eligible for a work permit. It is believed that a decision to repeal the program would have impacted thousands of educators, and many more students, along with some who are working on the frontlines as schools plan to re-open. 

The Migration Policy Institute reports that, as of 2016, approximately 228,000 children age 15 and younger were unauthorized immigrants potentially eligible for the DACA program provided they stayed in school. Also, each year about 100,000 undocumented immigrants graduate from high school. In 2014, 31% of the immediately eligible DACA population (about 365,000 students) was enrolled in secondary school. Further, education is one of the most common professions in which DACA recipients work. in 2019, approximately 9,000 DACA recipients were employed as teachers or in other education careers.

To read the entire Education Dive article, click here.