Tag: DACA

The Economic Benefits of Passing the Dream Act

The following article by Francesc Ortega, Ryan Ewards and Philip Wolgin was posted on the Center for American Progress website September 18, 2017:

Credit:  AP/Carolyn Kaster
A woman holds up a sign during a rally supporting DACA outside the White House in Washington, September 4, 2017.

A September 5 announcement from the Trump administration effectively ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)1—a program that, since 2012, has helped nearly 800,000 young people gain a temporary reprieve from deportation and a work permit.2The conversation has now shifted to the urgent need for Congress to pass legislation such as the Dream Act, which would provide permanent protection and a pathway to citizenship to unauthorized immigrants who came to the country as children.3

To better understand the potential economic impact of passing the Dream Act, this issue brief calculates the economic gains that would stem from legalizing potentially eligible individuals already in the workforce. This analysis builds on the groundbreaking work of the Center for American Progress’ earlier study, “The Economic Impacts of Removing Unauthorized Immigrant Workers,” which calculated the economic contributions of unauthorized workers to each individual industry, each state, and the nation as a whole, and updates and applies that economic model to the population of workers eligible for the Dream Act.4 Continue reading “The Economic Benefits of Passing the Dream Act”

Rep. Paulsen’s DACA Survey

Rep. Paulsen sent an email survey this afternoon asking those constituents who’ve been able to subscribe to his email newsletter to answer a poll on how he should handle the DACA/Dreamers situation.  We’ve heard that many people have had problems subscribing to his newsletter.  Just in case, we’re including a link to the poll below.  (You will be joining his newsletter list by completing this.)

Click here to take Rep. Erik Paulsen’s DACA/Dreamers September 19, 2017 Survey

 

Paul Ryan whines about Democrats maybe doing what he did for years

The following article by Josh Israel was posted on the ThinkProgress website September 6, 2017:

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) expressed outrage Wednesday at the notion that Democrats would attempt to protect hundreds of thousands of DACA beneficiaries in an upcoming vote on the debt ceiling, warning that they should not “play politics” as the nation deals with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and prepares for Hurricane Irma.  But while he called such an effort “ridiculous and disgraceful,” his own record stands in sharp contrast to his rhetoric.

At a press conference, Ryan was asked about reports that Democrats would seek a three-month debt limit increase and might attempt to attach protections for children of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as minors (a provision that President Trump demanded Congress consider). Continue reading “Paul Ryan whines about Democrats maybe doing what he did for years”

Despite Trashing Attempts by Right-Wingers, DACA Kids Are the Young People Most Parents Want Their Children to Be

The following article by Steven Rosenfeld was posted on the AlterNet website September 6, 2017:

Six snapshots of who DACA recipients are: strivers, hard-working, responsible, honest, vetted—and more than half are women.

Credit: Gili Getz / Movimiento Cosecha

Within hours of President Trump announcing he would end the DACA program, some right-wingers took to the airwaves saying were fed up with being told to have sympathy for these youths and families that the federal government was poised to break up.

That was the case on CNN, when host Don Lemon had to cut off John Fredericks, a right-wing talk show host, who said that most Americans struggling to get through their days were tired of hearing about the 800,000 young people who didn’t have visas to be here. Continue reading “Despite Trashing Attempts by Right-Wingers, DACA Kids Are the Young People Most Parents Want Their Children to Be”

Why Attacking Immigrants Endangers Every American’s Economic Security

The following article by Nancy Altman was posted on the National Memo website September 6, 2017:

Donald Trump reportedly will announce on Tuesday that he will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the legal protection accorded to 800,000 young people, known as “Dreamers,” who have lived in the United States since they were children. Dreamers are contributing members of society who grew up here but happened to be born in another country to mothers who moved here without the proper papers.

So much for not being punished for the sins of our parents. And for not being arbitrary and capricious in our public policy. Two siblings, a year apart in age, could face very different circumstances simply because the younger one was born inside the United States and the older one outside. One would be, thanks to our Constitution, an American citizen, with all the rights and privileges citizenship grants. The other could be a demonized “other,” subject to the whims of Trump. Continue reading “Why Attacking Immigrants Endangers Every American’s Economic Security”

The Trump administration’s claim that DACA ‘helped spur’ the 2014 surge of minors crossing the border

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website September 6, 2017:

“The effect of this unilateral executive amnesty, among other things, contributed to a surge of minors at the southern border that yielded terrible humanitarian consequences.”
— Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in remarks announcing the rescission of DACA, Sept. 5, 2017

“The temporary implementation of DACA by the Obama Administration, after Congress repeatedly rejected this amnesty-first approach, also helped spur a humanitarian crisis — the massive surge of unaccompanied minors from Central America including, in some cases, young people who would become members of violent gangs throughout our country, such as MS-13.”
— President Trump, in a statement on DACA, Sept. 5 Continue reading “The Trump administration’s claim that DACA ‘helped spur’ the 2014 surge of minors crossing the border”

Obama calls President Trump’s decision to end DACA ‘wrong,’ ‘self-defeating’ and ‘cruel’

The following article by Jenna Johnson was posted on the Washington Post website September 5, 2017:

Former president Barack Obama said Tuesday that it is “wrong,” “self-defeating” and “cruel” for the Trump administration to end an Obama-era program that allowed younger undocumented immigrants to continue to live in the United States without fear of deportation.

“Let’s be clear: The action taken today isn’t required legally. It’s a political decision, and a moral question,” Obama said in a lengthy statement posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon, following an announcement earlier in the day that the Trump administration will unwind the program, pending action from Congress in the next six months. “Whatever concerns or complaints Americans may have about immigration in general, we shouldn’t threaten the future of this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us. … Kicking them out won’t lower the unemployment rate, or lighten anyone’s taxes, or raise anybody’s wages.” Continue reading “Obama calls President Trump’s decision to end DACA ‘wrong,’ ‘self-defeating’ and ‘cruel’”

Trump Chooses Sessions, Longtime Foe of DACA, to Announce Its Demise

The following article by Matt Apuzzo and rebecca R. Ruiz was posted on the New York Times website September 5, 2017:

WASHINGTON — As an up-and-coming politician in Alabama, Jeff Sessions watched as his state’s poultry industry illegally hired Mexican and Central American immigrants to jobs that had once been filled by poor, unskilled American workers. As a senator, Mr. Sessions argued that displaced American workers like these — not the people replacing them — deserved compassion.

So when President Trump chose Mr. Sessions, now the attorney general, to announce on Tuesday the end of an Obama-era immigration program that shielded young immigrants from deportation, there was no doubt what message he would deliver. Mr. Trump has expressed conflicting emotions about those who were brought to the country as children, but Mr. Sessions expressed no such qualms. Continue reading “Trump Chooses Sessions, Longtime Foe of DACA, to Announce Its Demise”

DACA reaction shows how immigration has become a litmus test for Democrats

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve was posted on the Washington Post website September 6, 2017:

THE BIG IDEA: The House passed a Dream Act in 2010 that would have allowed illegal immigrants to apply for citizenship if they entered the United States as children, graduated from high school or got an equivalent degree, and had been in the United States for at least five years.

Five moderate Democrats in the Senate voted no. If each of them had supported it, the bill would have become law, DACA would have been unnecessary, and this manufactured political crisis now facing Congress would have been averted. Continue reading “DACA reaction shows how immigration has become a litmus test for Democrats”

DACA decision highlights chasm between Trump’s compassionate rhetoric and reality

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve was posted on the Washington Post website September 5, 2017:

THE BIG IDEA: By their fruits you will know them.

At the Republican National Convention last summer, Donald Trump said he’d “do everything in my power to protect our LGBT citizens.” Then he rescinded protections for trans students in public schools and issued orders to bar transgender people from the armed forces.

Trump pronounced the House’s health-care bill “mean,” but that did not stop him from whipping votes for the measure and holding a rally in the Rose Garden to celebrate its passage. Continue reading “DACA decision highlights chasm between Trump’s compassionate rhetoric and reality”