Superintendents from Colorado’s two largest school districts have signed a petition asking President Trump and Congress to extend temporary protections for young undocumented immigrants — some of them teachers.
Denver’s Tom Boasberg and Jefferson County’s Dan McMinimee joined more than 1,000 educators from across the country in signing the petition drafted by the nonprofit education advocacy group Stand for Children.
The petition asks that officials keep alive former President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and help pass the DREAM Act.
The DREAM Act, first introduced in Congress in 2001, would create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.
The petition reads in part:
Out of concern for children and the strength of our nation, we respectfully call on officials at the highest levels of power to address this issue in an urgent way. Students must be able to attend school and graduate with a clear path toward a productive future, and teachers who were brought here as children must be able to continue to strengthen our schools and our nation.
Many in the education community raised concern after Trump was elected in November. Trump ran on a promise to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and end Obama’s deferment program. On Thursday, some of Colorado’s Latino lawmakers sent a letter to Trump asking him to back away from that promise.
Other education leaders in Colorado who signed the petition:
- Savinay Chandrasekhar, executive director of Minds Matter of Denver, which provides mentoring and other support for low-income youth.
- Kimberlee Sia, executive director of KIPP Colorado Schools, part of a national charter school network.
- Lauren Trent, director of education partnerships of CareerWise Colorado, which is developing an apprenticeship program for Colorado youth set to debut this fall.
- Michael Clough, superintendent of Sheridan School District, southwest of Denver.
- Patricia Hanrahan, deputy superintendent of Englewood Schools.
Numerous Denver Public Schools teachers also signed the petition.
Correction: This post has been updated to reflect that Minds Matter provides mentoring, not tutoring.