By: Eddie A. Taveras | Daily News | OCT. 28, 2022 | Photo by Juan A. Lozano
The past few years have been tumultuous for immigrants in America. For those who came to the U.S. at a young age in particular — otherwise known as Dreamers — growing up in this nation has been anything but easy.
When the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was established a decade ago, more than 600,000 Dreamers were able to receive temporary deportation protections and work authorizations. However, failure by Congress to codify the policy into law has resulted in a consequential situation.
Multiple conservative federal courts have all but sealed the fate of the DACA policy, with the most recent ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Texas vs. United States deeming it unlawful and teeing up its permanent termination. DACA’s fate as it wends through the courts in the coming months now appears certain; it’s merely a matter of time before the protections it provides are wiped away. This would be nothing short of a disaster, ultimately forcing Dreamers back to countries to which they have no ties, as the U.S. has been their only home.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must address this issue before it’s too late. He needs to put his storied leadership skills to work with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and the rest of New York’s congressional delegation toward a solution that permanently protects Dreamers who have for too long lived in fear of deportation due to Congress’ inaction to fix our nation’s outdated immigration system.
FWD.us recently joined more than 80 of the nation’s largest employers and business associations — including New York-based IBM and Verizon, and others like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, General Motors and the National Retail Association — in a letter to Congress calling on lawmakers to pass legislation before the end of the year that will protect Dreamers, ensuring we remain a welcoming and competitive nation for generations to come.
DACA has provided hundreds of thousands of young people with the ability to build meaningful lives here in the U.S. through temporary deportation protections and work authorizations. Today, 100,000 Dreamers call New York home, including more than 25,000 DACA recipients. They are citizens in every way except on paper. In fact, 82% of DACA recipients in New York are hardworking members of our labor force, and 9,200 stepped up to serve as members of the essential workforce during the coronavirus pandemic.
If DACA ends without Congress passing a permanent legislative solution this year, the lives of Dreamers, their families and friends, colleagues and employers will be upended. This loss will also have a much broader and far-reaching impact on society, our culture and economy.
Should DACA end, 800 people would be forced out of their jobs every month in New York. Removing DACA recipients from the workforce — already strained to the point that many industries are experiencing chronic shortages — would amount to an estimated $2.5 billion in annual GDP losses. Nearly 20,000 U.S. citizens in New York who now live with a DACA recipient could be separated indefinitely from their family members.
Even though DACA was a provisional solution for Dreamers to obtain temporary deportation protections to live and work permits, it has grown into a widely successful policy from which the entire nation has benefited. However, the consistent failure by Congress to establish a pathway to citizenship for recipients has left both the policy and those it protects vulnerable to ongoing legal attacks. Thankfully, and even in today’s contemptuous political landscape, a bipartisan compromise that protects Dreamers is available and has strong support among voters across the political spectrum.
A new poll released this week shows that Republicans, independents and Democrats alike are in favor of Congress moving to provide Dreamers with a path to earn citizenship, with eight in 10 voters in support of such a provision. The poll also underscores voters’ overwhelming support for Congress to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented farmworkers and essential workers.
I applaud efforts by state and local lawmakers to step up to fill the gap by providing what protections they can. They, in conjunction with Gov. Hochul, should continue to seek all available state protections as Congress deliberates. However, the federal government has the sole authority to create permanent legislative protections for our Dreamers and undocumented community members, and it is in Washington that a true solution lies.
Congress must introduce a viable bipartisan legislative solution and ensure that it passes this year. The courts will not save DACA. Only Congress can truly protect the Dreamers. Congress must listen to the will of the American people and act this year.
