More than 750,000 young immigrants who arrived in the United States as children and are protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy now face possible policy changes from a new presidential administration.

In an effort to clarify possible new practices, four Cornell administrators and faculty members will address the facts and uncertainty in a panel discussion, “Immigration Chaos: DACA Students and Higher Education Grapple With Upheaval,” Friday, March 17, at noon in Kennedy Hall’s David L. Call Alumni Auditorium.

The event is free and open to all.

Panelists will discuss the impact of immigration policy on DACA at the higher education, local and national levels. They are:

• Carlos M. Gonzalez, executive director, Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives, who oversees key central academic support programs and grants, with a primary focus on academic success for underrepresented students of color, first generation, low-income and undocumented students;
• Barbara Knuth, senior vice provost and dean of the Graduate School, who administers undergraduate enrollment through the Undergraduate Admissions Office and the Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment, and serves on the University Diversity Council;
• Estelle McKee, clinical professor of law, who co-teaches Cornell Law School’s Asylum and Convention Against Torture Appellate Clinic, and has worked as an immigration attorney; and
• Vijay Pendakur, the Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley Dean of Students.

The panel will be moderated by Rebecca Stoltzfus, vice provost for undergraduate education and professor of nutritional sciences.

President Barack Obama signed DACA in 2012 to protect undocumented children brought to the United States. Recent immigration actions by the Trump administration have created uncertainty about the future of the DACA program.

The panel discussion is presented by the Division of University Relations’ Diversity Council.