Colleges and universities across Colorado are grappling with whether the incoming Trump administration will strip away federal deportation protections for undocumented students, most of whom came to the state at a very young age and pay in-state tuition under Colorado law.

DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was signed as an executive action by President Barack Obama in 2012. The policy provides deportation protection and work visas for law-abiding, undocumented students who came here as children and fit certain age criteria.

Trump vowed on the campaign trail to reverse Obama’s executive actions, including DACA, but has since hinted he may “work something out” for undocumented college students whose parents brought them to the United States at a very young age.

In Colorado, a state law called ASSET, or Advancing Students for a Stronger Economy Tomorrow, was passed in 2013 to allow undocumented high school students to attend Colorado colleges and universities at lower in-state tuition rates. Denver state Sen. Mike Johnston, a former high school principal, sponsored the law and is concerned about DACA students.

“It doesn’t make sense for the community or the economy to take away affordable access to college for some of our most committed and hardest working young people, even if they happen to be undocumented,” Johnston told The Colorado Statesman. “No matter what happens at the federal level, we have ensured that Colorado high school graduates will have access to an affordable college education regardless of immigration status.”

Colorado Mountain College, a sprawling community college system with campuses across the state’s Western Slope, fully supports ongoing protections for DACA and ASSET students.

“It is a fact that our communities and the college have benefited from laws and policies like DACA and ASSET, which have created opportunities for many deserving students where there previously were none,” Colorado Mountain College President and CEO Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser told The Statesman.

“These students are thriving at CMC,” she added. “CMC proudly supports these students and is grateful for the opportunity to prepare them for employment in our communities.”

More than 550 public and private colleges and universities across the United States have asked the federal government to continue the DACA program and signed onto a statement offering to meet with public officials on the issue – including Colorado State University, Colorado State University-Pueblo, Metropolitan State University of Denver, the University of Northern Colorado, the University of Denver and Regis University.

There are nearly 28,000 Coloradans who have applied for and received DACA protections since 2012, out of an estimated 163,000 undocumented immigrants living in the state.

Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, two members of the so-called “Gang of Eight” who successfully passed immigration reform in 2013 only to see it die in the House, rolled out their proposed BRIDGE Act on Dec. 9 to extend DACA protections legislatively.

Such a bill will face a tough battle, especially in the GOP-dominated House, but a legislative fix would prevent Trump from killing the program using his executive authority. Despite congressional efforts, Colorado higher education officials are concerned.

“At this point we certainly support our ASSET students,” said Mike Hooker, executive director of public affairs and communications for Colorado State University. “They’ve done well at CSU and we’re happy to support them; however, at this point we just don’t know where this is all headed, and we’re keeping a close eye on potential legislation …”

Observers in the nation’s tech industry are also paying close attention, supporting both immigration reforms and expanding education opportunities for foreign-born students in American colleges and universities. Top tech industry executives met with Trump on Dec. 14, and immigration was an anticipated topic.

“If DACA is repealed, it should be simultaneously replaced with a limited program to shield current DACA recipients from deportation and continues their ability to legally work,” Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, told The Statesman. “Without action, it’s likely these young people, who have known no other home, would be under threat of deportation to a country that is unfamiliar to them.

Where the lawmakers stand

A spokesman for Republican Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner – a Colorado State graduate who in the past broke with the GOP and voted not to repeal DACA – did not return multiple emails and phone calls requesting comment on the Graham-Durbin bill or Trump’s threats to terminate DACA.

A spokesman for Democratic Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet would not comment on the proposed BRIDGE Act, but did say the senator broadly supports maintaining DACA, which nationally protects more than 740,000 undocumented immigrants from deportation.

“Where Michael Bennet stands is that he supported the DREAM Act, and he supports the DACA program, and he supports comprehensive immigration reform,” said Bennet spokeswoman Laurie Cipriano.

The failed Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM Act) – first introduced by Durbin in 2001 – would have conditionally allowed permanent residency for some undocumented immigrants and is the origin of the term “Dreamers.”

“I know there are a lot of DACA beneficiaries throughout Colorado who are worried, and I want them to know that they are welcome in the United States, the only home many of them know,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis told The Statesman.

Polis represents the major university towns of Boulder (home of the University of Colorado) and Fort Collins, where CSU is located, in his 2nd Congressional District.

Polis addressed mounting concerns among those in the DACA program that the Department of Homeland Security will now use their registration against them if Trump follows through on campaign promises by repealing DACA and commencing mass deportations. Polis vowed to fight to protect the private information of DACA-registered immigrants.

U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, a Cortez Republican who represents most of the Western Slope, is no fan of Obama’s executive actions on DACA or its companion Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), which he deems unconstitutional, but he’s sympathetic to some Dreamers and hopes Congress can find a solution. DAPA is in legal limbo after the U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked on the program in June, essentially backing an appeals court ruling against it.

“I am hopeful that the House, Senate, and [Trump] administration can work together to develop compassionate and sensible immigration reforms that support the kids who chose to come forward under the DACA program, while ensuring our borders are secure and our laws are followed,” Tipton told The Statesman.

At the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, students and faculty started a petition drive to make the school a “sanctuary campus” and compel U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to obtain warrants before operating on campus. ICE operates under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“UNC remains committed to welcoming and supporting students who are undocumented, including supporting the continuation of the [DACA] program and the [ASSET] bill …,” UNC President Kay Norton wrote in an email sent out campuswide. “I share the convictions of those who have signed the petition.”

The UNC Board of Trustees on Dec. 12 also approved a resolution in support of continued DACA and ASSET protections. UNC spokesman Nate Haas says the school has a long track record of backing such measures.

“If you look back at our history, we were supportive of something like ASSET in 2008 when our board of trustees issued a resolution along those lines of supporting undocumented students with in-state tuition rates,” Haas said.