Napolitano Heads to the Golden State, Will Lead University of California System

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced that she has been nominated to succeed Mark Yudoff as the first woman president of the University of California system. The nomination, which must be confirmed by the University of California regents, would take the secretary to California this August. Below is a statement from Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the Los Angeles-based National Immigration Law Center:

“Secretary Napolitano undoubtedly will bring a wealth of experience to one of the world’s most prestigious public systems of higher education. She will take the helm of a university system that, through its in-state tuition and tuition assistance polices, has led the way in making it possible for Californians, regardless of where they were born or how much money they have, to fulfill their educational dreams.

“Secretary Napolitano’s departure also provides the Obama administration with a welcome opportunity to move away from the administration’s current practice of deporting members of immigrant families at a record-breaking pace. Under this administration, too many children fear not seeing their parents when they come home from school and far too many have been placed in foster care because their parents have been deported. We hope the new head of the Department of Homeland Security restores some much needed discretion and accountability to a deportation machine that has already wreaked havoc on immigrant families and communities across the country.

“The U.C. system has always rightly recognized that California is at its best when all residents of the Golden State have the tools and opportunities they need to reach their full human potential. We are confident that Secretary Napolitano will follow in President Yudoff’s footsteps and lend a strong voice of support for an immigration system that allows all California’s residents to get on a road to citizenship.”

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