On the 30th anniversary of Plyler v. Doe-the June, 1982 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not deny funds for the education of children of unauthorized immigrants-President Obama announced a halt to the deportation of some undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children and have graduated from high school and served in the military. The President's adoption of a "deferred action" policy is, to a great extent, old wine in a new wineskin. The policy does not grant legal-residency status, as the DREAM Act would have done, but defers deportation for a renewable two-year period. However, it does offer hope and a new status (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) for applicants, and more importantly, employment authorization. The details of the program are very complex, but in the first month of the policy, nearly 5,000 undocumented college students had been approved for DACA. More than 75,000 students applied in the first month, and many more are in the pipeline, inasmuch as some school districts have been overwhelmed with processing the required paperwork for applications.

Professor Michael A. Olivas is among the country's leading experts on immigration and higher education. In this webinar on "Issues Facing Undocumented College Students," Dr. Olivas will review recent events concerning the DREAM Act at the state and federal levels, and will explain the DACA policy and program details. He has helped develop state resident tuition statutes for a number of states, has been involved in defending states against court challenges, and has served as a trial expert witness and consultant to several states and institutions. He holds a PhD and law degree, and is William B. Bates Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of Houston Law Center.

In this NADOHE webinar, Olivas will make a detailed presentation, provide extensive materials, and answer questions posed by participants.

About the Presenter:

Michael A. Olivas is the William B. Bates Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of Houston Law Center and Director of the Institute for Higher Education Law and Governance at UH. From 1983-1987, he also chaired the UH graduate program in Higher Education. In 2001, he was selected for the Esther Farfel Award, as the Outstanding Professor at the University of Houston. Before joining the faculty at the University of Houston in 1982, Professor Olivas held teaching and research positions at the Ohio State University and Howard University; he served as Director of Research for the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in Washington, D.C. from 1979-1982. In 1989-90, he was a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin, and Special Counsel to then-Chancellor Donna Shalala. In 1997, he held the Mason Ladd Distinguished Visiting Chair at the University of Iowa College of Law. He holds a B.A. (Magna Cum Laude) from the Pontifical College Josephinum, an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Ohio State University, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. He is the author or co-author of thirteen books, including The Dilemma of Access (Howard University Press, 1979), Latino College Students (Teachers College Press, 1986), Prepaid College Tuition Programs (College Board, 1993), The Law and Higher Education (3rd ed., Carolina Academic Press, 2006), and Education Law Stories (Foundation Press, 2007). His 2004 book, Colored Men and Hombres Aqui, led to a PBS documentary ("A CLASS APART") about its featured case, Hernandez v. Texas. He has published widely in higher education journals and law reviews, and has served on the editorial board of more than 20 scholarly journals, including The Review of Higher Education, The Journal of College and University Law, and The Journal of Higher Education. New York University Press published his newest book, No Undocumented Child Left Behind: Plyler v. Doe and the Education of Undocumented Children, in 2012, while Johns Hopkins University Press will publish Suing Alma Mater: Higher Education and the Courts in 2013. He has been elected to membership in the American Law Institute and the National Academy of Education, the only person to have been selected to both honor academies. He served two terms as General Counsel to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), from 1994-98. In 2011-12, he served as the President of the AALS. In 1993, he was chosen as Division J's Distinguished Scholar by the American Educational Research Association, and in 1994, he was awarded the Research Achievement Award by the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). ASHE also gave him its 2000 Special Merit Award. He has been designated as a NACUA Fellow by the National Association of College and University Attorneys and an AERA Fellow by the American Educational Research Association.