More than 140 businesses call on Supreme Court to protect DACA

More than 140 companies and 18 major business associations have signed onto an amicus brief Friday in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, ahead of a Supreme Court hearing next month on President Trump’s move to terminate it.

The list of signatories includes major employers across many industries, including retail, tech, tourism and communications.

The filing focuses on the economic benefits of maintaining the program, and the dangers of potentially ending it.

{mosads}The “friend of the court” filing says that “the beneficial effects of DACA have not been limited to those individuals” enrolled in the program.

“By expanding the opportunities available to DACA recipients, this program has benefitted America’s companies, our Nation’s economy, and all Americans,” the signatories say.

Among the companies listed are Verizon, Airbnb, Facebook, Target, Ikea, Univision, Starbucks, Tesla and Western Union.

The business associations attached include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which immigration advocates had been long been pressuring to speak out in support of DACA.

The Supreme Court will hold a hearing Nov. 12 on three cases where lower courts decided Trump’s termination of DACA was illegal.

Trump ended the Obama-era immigration program in September of 2017, but courts have forced the Department of Homeland Security, which administers DACA, to keep processing applications.

Under DACA, some immigrants who arrived in the country illegally as minors are granted a work permit and deferral from deportation for two years. The permits are renewable but do not convey other immigration benefits, such as a path to permanent residency and citizenship.

The economic loss of removing DACA beneficiaries, also known as Dreamers, would entail a gross domestic product loss of “up to $460.3 billion, and tax revenues will be reduced by approximately $90 billion, over the next decade,” according to the brief.

“Dreamers are now fully part of our company’s fabric, and inspire us with their determination to contribute at work and to American life more broadly. Today, we urge the Supreme Court to consider the important role Dreamers play in our communities and in our economy,” said Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International, one of the brief’s co-signers.

A multitude of private and public institutions have already submitted amicus briefs to the high court supporting DACA ahead of the Nov. 12 hearing.

Tech giants Microsoft and Apple filed their own briefs over the past two weeks, and the government of Mexico filed its own brief Thursday.