Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said on Thursday her ‘heart is with’ the children of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States at a young age and whose future in this country is uncertain after President Donald Trump announced plans to wind down a program that shields them from deportation.
DeVos was asked by CBS News what she would say to the ‘Dreamers’ – the hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program – after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Tuesday that the Trump administration is rescinding the Obama-era policy.
‘Well, first of all my heart is with them,’ DeVos said.
Many of the dreamers enrolled in DACA are currently in American school systems or in colleges and universities, according to the secretary.
One of the prerequisites to receiving DACA protections are enrollment in a school or a university. DACA recipients must also prove that they have no criminal record.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said on Thursday her ‘heart is with’ the children of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. at a young age and whose future in this country is uncertain after President Donald Trump announced plans to rescind DACA
‘I understand they’re here not by their own volition, and yet they are serious about pursuing their education and contributing to our American society and culture,’ DeVos told CBS News.
‘And I would just encourage them to take courage and have courage.’
DeVos echoed President Trump, who said that the fate of dreamers should be up to Congress.
The legislature needs ‘to do what it needs to do,’ she said.
‘I know this is a very difficult issue, and I know it’s one with which the president has struggled, as well as all of us,’ DeVos said.
‘We are a nation of compassion, and we are also a nation of laws.’
DeVos said that rescinding DACA was the correct decision because the program was a ‘temporary’ stopgap.
She would not express a clear opinion as to whether she believes dreamers should be able to stay in the U.S.
‘Well, again, that’s really up – it’s Congress’ role to pass the laws,’ DeVos said.
‘We are a nation of laws but we also a compassionate nation. So I – I hope that they will do their job and address this issue once and for all.’
The Trump administration has been sending mixed signals about its intentions towards DACA recipients.
Many of the hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients, or Dreamers’ are currently enrolled in K-12th grade or in a college or university, according to DeVos. Two Dreamers, Jovan Rodrigo (left) and Gloria Mendoza (right), take part in a protest in New York on Tuesday
The president in the past has spoken of dealing with the situation ‘with heart’, at one point saying: ‘I love the dreamers.’
DeVos has also taken a softer tone in the past about undocumented migrants.
When asked in April whether she supports undocumented immigrants receiving in-state tuition at public universities, she told the Miami Herald: ‘[Immigration] is an issue that’s been widely discussed within the administration and I yesterday referred to [Homeland Security Secretary] Gen. [John F.] Kelly’s comments about the fact that [undocumented] students should not be concerned.
‘They should continue to focus on their studies and continue to pursue their educations.’
In March, Kelly said after a meeting with House Democrats that DACA is ‘the least of his worries right now.’
DeVos’s comments about the dreamers came one day after her decision to overhaul how colleges investigate sexual assault, saying Obama-era guidelines are not working and the rights of the accused are being violated.
DeVos said current guidelines under Title IX U.S. education equality rules fail to do enough to address the due process rights of those accused of sexual assault and the victims of sexual violence.
‘It is our moral obligation to get this right,’ DeVos said at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School.
She offered no details on how the administration would revamp the guidelines but said her department would seek comment on alternatives.
The guidelines set up under Democratic President Barack Obama in 2011 have come under fire from critics because of the strict rules colleges must follow when investigating sexual assault complaints or risk losing funding under Title IX, the federal law that bars sexual discrimination in education.
DeVos said too many students had been falsely charged with sexual assault and that schools were terrified about being accused by the Education Department’s civil rights office of ignoring accusations.