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NCAA grants D-I winter athletes additional year of eligibility
In an attempt to provide as much flexibility as possible amid a time of great uncertainty, the NCAA has granted all D-I winter athletes an additional year of eligibility — something that was already granted to all fall and spring athletes.
What they're saying: Grace Calhoun, who chairs the NCAA's D-I council and is the athletic director at Penn, said the council didn't want athletes choosing to redshirt because of fears that their seasons might be cut short or negatively impacted by the pandemic.
- "We felt it was important to make this decision now so student-athletes had the peace of mind to go into this season and compete," she told ESPN.
- "They know they can regain that eligibility and have their clock automatically extended, so they're not taking that chance on the front end if they choose to compete."
The other side: UConn women's coach Geno Auriemma doesn't like the rule and thinks a lot of his fellow coaches — particularly those with seniors — would agree.
- "If you lose your season, I can see that," said Auriemma. "But how are you going to let somebody play a whole season and then give them another year?"
- "I think you're going to have a lot of coaches that are going to go, 'You're putting me in a tough spot here.' Because now you're going to have some seniors go, 'Hey, I want to stay.' And then you've got a coach going ... 'I wasn't planning on you staying.' Now what are you going to do — turn the kid out?"
The big picture: Council members also voted to allow all football programs to compete in bowls this season (usually need a .500 record), while pushing forward with two more rule changes that could transform college sports long-term:
- One-time transfer: The council will propose giving all athletes a one-time transfer, granting them immediate eligibility at their new school. Most sports already have this, but now football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and men's hockey will join them if the proposal is approved in January.
- NIL rules: The council will also propose new rules on how athletes can make money from their name, image and likeness.
Federal judge orders Trump administration to restore DACA
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to fully restore the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, giving undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children a chance to petition for protection from deportation.
Why it matters: DACA was implemented under former President Obama, but President Trump has sought to undo the program since taking office. Friday’s ruling will require Department of Homeland Security officers to begin accepting applications starting Monday and guarantee that work permits are valid for two years.
The big picture: Roughly 640,000 immigrants are enrolled in the DACA program. The Trump administration has argued that the Obama-era program was an overreach of executive power.
- Multiple courts have prevented the Trump administration from ending the program in its entirety, before the Supreme Court ruled in June that the Trump administration violated federal administrative law in its attempt to terminate the program.
- In July, Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf closed the program to new applicants and shortened the period of work permits and protections from two years to one.
- U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who handed down Friday’s decision, previously ruled that Wolf’s appointment violated the Homeland Security Act of 2002, concluding that Wolf had no legal authority to implement his July mandates.
- The Government Availability Office also found Wolf’s appointment invalid.
- Immigration advocates anticipated that President-elect Joe Biden would use executive action to bolster DACA even as the courts consider its validity.
But, but, but: Immigrants often referred to as “'dreamers' are not necessarily in the clear," the Washington Post notes.
- Attorneys general in multiple states have asked a federal judge to rule that DACA is unlawful.
What they’re saying: "Today's ruling opens the door for more than 1 million immigrant youth who have been unfairly denied their chance to apply for DACA and secure their future in this country," Karen Tumlin, one of the lawyers representing DACA recipients and applicants, told CBS News. "Our brave plaintiffs have said from the beginning of this lawsuit that their home is here, and the court rightly recognized that today."
- "The court reserves the right to impose further remedies if they become necessary," Garaufis wrote in his decision.



