Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue on Monday urged Congress to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, arguing that the immigrants in the program are “critical” to the nation’s economy.
“Hundreds of thousands of these young people contribute their talents to our economy in integral ways. Some DACA recipients have already lost their legal status. The longer Congress waits, the more Dreamers will lose their ability to work here legally and become subject to immediate deportation. This will cause serious disruptions in the business operations of the companies that employ them, which is why many business leaders have spoken out and demanded action on this issue,” Donohue said in a statement.
The Obama-era DACA program allowed illegal immigrants who arrived when they were children to legally remain in the country. An estimated 800,000 immigrants participated in it. President Trump formally ended the program in September, giving Congress until March 5 to create a replacement version before the permits granted under the program begin to expire.
The Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business lobby, has long taken a broadly pro-immigration stance, arguing immigrants are critical to filling the nation’s labor needs. Critics in organized labor and anti-immigration groups counter that businesses like them because they keep labor costs down.
Donohue’s statement cites the case of Javier Velazquez, a younger entrepreneur who started an online business but now faces the prospect of being deported. “If Congress doesn’t act soon, Velazquez’s American Dream will come to an end, along with the dreams of 800,000 others like him. Losing these young people would be a tragedy not just for them but for American businesses and our entire economy. Congress must set aside its differences and take decisive action to protect the Dreamers once and for all,” Donohue said.
