President David Skorton issued the following statement June 15 on the White House's announcement that the U.S. will stop deporting some illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children:

President Obama took a giant step today toward fixing America's broken immigration system. As a university president, I have watched in anguish as some of our talented and highly motivated young people have been denied opportunities to contribute to our society because they are undocumented. By allowing law-abiding children of immigrants to gain work permits, the Obama administration is fulfilling one of the goals of the DREAM Act and unlocking a pipeline of talent that will propel our nation forward. Historically, immigrant families have contributed enormously to our country's prosperity, conceiving more than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies, and today's announcement is the type of common sense policy needed to encourage innovation and keep our economy growing.