Dear Members of the Harvard Chan School Community,
The Trump administration announced this morning that it is rescinding former President Obama’s executive order, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which protected from deportation undocumented individuals who were brought to this country as children. This decision will take effect in six months, allowing time for possible legislative action by Congress.
In response, Harvard University President Drew Faust has released a statement in which she describes today’s announcement as a challenge to our nation’s most fundamental values. “This cruel policy,” says Faust, “recognizes neither justice nor mercy. In the months to come, we will make every effort to have our voice heard, in the halls of Congress and elsewhere, about the need for the protections of DACA to continue.”
I write to express the Harvard Chan School’s wholehearted support for President Faust’s statement. Our hearts go out to the hundreds of thousands of “dreamers”—many of whom know no other home than the United States—whose lives have been thrown into turmoil by this decision. We affirm our support for these individuals and their families. We pledge to aid in whatever way we can the University’s efforts to advocate on their behalf. And we celebrate the invaluable contributions that immigrants—both documented and undocumented—have made to our School, our University, and our country.
I encourage any student, faculty, or staff member who is affected by the administration’s DACA decision to take advantage of the many resources available through the University and the School. To learn more about these resources, please visit: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/resources/.
Sincerely,
Michelle A. Williams, ScD | Dean of the Faculty
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
