Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and 300 other companies urge Trump to protect Dreamers

01 Sep Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and 300 other companies urge Trump to protect Dreamers

The CEOs of some 300 companies have signed an open letter to Trump to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The program was created in 2012 under President Obama and allows children, now young adults, brought into the U.S. illegally (aka Dreamers) to remain in the U.S. and not be deported provided they obtain and renew work permits via the DACA program, reports Recode. Trump is set to make a decision on the future of DACA on Friday, in which he is expected to order that work permits stop being issued to these young adults.

If Trump carries through with his reported plans, up to 800,000 young adults who were brought into the U.S. under no volition of their own as children would be eligible to be deported from, for many of them, the only country the know. The letter signed by the over 300 tech execs not only urges Trump to keep DACA in place, but urges Congress to pass permanent legislation that guarantees the rights of Dreamers. You can read the full letter below:

August 31, 2017

To: President Donald J. Trump
To: Speaker Paul Ryan; Leader Nancy Pelosi; Leader Mitch McConnell; and Leader Charles E. Schumer

As entrepreneurs and business leaders, we are concerned about new developments in immigration policy that threaten the future of young undocumented immigrants brought to America as children.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows nearly 800,000 Dreamers the basic opportunity to work and study without the threat of deportation, is in jeopardy. All DACA recipients grew up in America, registered with our government, submitted to extensive background checks, and are diligently giving back to our communities and paying income taxes. More than 97 percent are in school or in the workforce, 5 percent started their own business, 65 percent have purchased a vehicle, and 16 percent have purchased their first home. At least 72 percent of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies count DACA recipients among their employees.

Unless we act now to preserve the DACA program, all 780,000 hardworking young people will lose their ability to work legally in this country, and every one of them will be at immediate risk of deportation. Our economy would lose $460.3 billion from the national GDP and $24.6 billion in Social Security and Medicare tax contributions.

Dreamers are vital to the future of our companies and our economy. With them, we grow and create jobs. They are part of why we will continue to have a global competitive advantage.

We call on President Trump to preserve the DACA program. We call on Congress to pass the bipartisan DREAM Act or legislation that provides these young people raised in our country the permanent solution they deserve.

Source: Fast Company