Congress must act to protect DREAMers

When President Trump made the cruel decision last September to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, he gave Congress a six-month window to act. Would Congress allow nearly 800,000 young immigrants we affectionately call DREAMers to stay and thrive, or subject them to permanent second class status and deportation?

Three months later, Congressional leaders have yet to seriously address the status of these young people. Time is running out on our DREAMers and doing what’s right for our nation.

{mosads}The DACA Program was created by President Obama in 2012. It allows undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children to request deferred action on deportation proceedings for two years with the possibility of renewal. DACA also allows these young people—the average DACA recipient came to our nation at just 6 years old—to work legally in the United States.  

In the absence of a broad and just immigration reform bill, DACA remains a fair and humane response to the status of young immigrants brought to the United States by their parents and who are Americans in everything but status. DREAMers attend our local public schools, work and run businesses in our communities, and pray alongside us in our houses of worship. Deporting them from the only home they have known, often to countries to which they have little or no connection, is spiteful, punitive and self-defeating.

By any measure, DACA has proven to be a tremendous success. Data shows that more than 90 percent of DACA recipients are employed, more than 70 percent are pursuing higher education, and, after securing DACA protection, most recipients report an increase in their hourly wage. In short, DACA has brought these young people out of the shadows, integrated them into our businesses and schools, and allowed them to contribute to the economic success of the nation.

By failing to protect DREAMers, Congress risks not only fracturing their lives and the millions of family, friends, and co-workers linked to them, but also creating economic chaos for our nation. Research suggests that without DACA, 700,000 would lose their jobs and the United States might lose $460 billion in GDP over the next decade. Indeed, many DREAMers contribute to our economy as important leaders in American industry and technology. This is why thousands of entrepreneurs and business leaders representing every major sector of our economy have called on Congress to save DACA.

In the face of inaction of congressional leaders, there are some positive signs. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have introduced a bipartisan DREAM Act that would not only protect DREAMers from deportation, but also offer a pathway to permanent legal residency, and eventually, citizenship. We are also encouraged that a bipartisan group of representatives in the House have called on House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to bring the House version of the DREAM Act to the floor for a debate and vote. That’s the right and necessary thing to do.

Of course, for the DREAM Act to get through Congress, Republican leaders in the Senate and House have to demonstrate that they have the courage to take on the anti-immigrant extremists within their own party – and the extreme xenophobia that has come to define President Trump. Offering words of support and compassion for the DREAMers doesn’t resolve their status.  And delaying the issue until Congress returns from the Christmas Recess only contributes to the already cruel and inhumane uncertainty with which DREAMers have been living since President Trump’s announcement in September. 

At Hispanic Federation, we see every day what DACA means to young undocumented immigrants.  Through our work in colleges and community centers, we have come to know them and hear their stories. These are American stories of hard-work, great hope, and belief in the promise of America as a land of opportunity. 

It’s up to Congress to confirm the DREAMers’ faith in America. There can’t be any further delay. The time for action is now.

José Calderón is president of the Hispanic Federation,  a non-profit membership organization that seeks to empower and advance the Hispanic community.