Speech #1140037731

Program enables such youth to fulfill their potential and thus to maximize their contribution to their families. communities. and this country. President Obama announced the DACA Program in June 2012 to protect eligible young people from deportation for a 2year period. while Congress considered comprehensive immigration reform legislation. The Senate passed the Border Security. Economic Opportunity. and Immigration Modernization Act with a strong bipartisan majority. 68 to 32. This bill would have provided a pathway to citizenship for DACA grantees and others similarly situated. But the House failed to act. and so here we are today without comprehensive immigration reform. Although we have not yet succeeded in fixing our broken immigration system through congressional action. at least the DACA Program provides some temporary reprieve for these young immigrants so that they do not live in constant fear of deportation. The program enables them to get work authorization. and thus to seek higher education and contribute to the American economy. To qualify. an individual must have come to the United States when they were under 16 years of age and lived in the country continuously for at least 5 years. The individual must also receive an education. pass a background check. and pay an application fee. The State of California is home to over a quarter of the estimated 1.8 million young immigrants who potentially meet the criteria of the DACA Program. Of the approximately 660.000 DACA applications that have been approved since the programs inception in 2012. about 30 percent reside in California. This is more than any other State. To help those who are eligible. nonprofits. religious organizations. pro bono legal networks. and other volunteers in California and nationwide have risen to the occasion. They have helped. and continue to help. hundreds of thousands of DACA applicants to navigate the filing process. The benefits of DACA for these young individuals and for this country are undeniable. A recent report published by the University of California. Berkeley School of Law found that 66 percent of students granted DACA noted a positive change in postgraduate plans and greater hope for their future. All of the studys participants come from lowincome households. with 88 percent living below 150 percent of the Federal poverty level. Many students reported that parents could not assist them with educational costs. and. in some instances. students contributed a portion of their own earnings to provide for their families. Several students had suffered the deportation of a close relative. and over a quarter had a parent or sibling with an active case in immigration court. Imagine the daytoday stresses of being a college student: trying to excel in the classroom. paying for food and housing. and finding future employment. For these students. they must also consider additional financial. psychological. and emotional challenges because theydespite spending their lives in this countryare undocumented. The DACA Program gives these young people a measure of stability so they can focus on their school work and professional growth and development. not on whether they or a loved one will be deported. The DACA Program allows them to do just that and look forward. The economic impacts of the 2012 DACA Program show that the United States has much to gain from enabling eligible undocumented individuals to work lawfully within our borders. According to the University of California. Los Angeles North American Integration and Development Center "The DACA program of 20122014 appears to have spurred extraordinary growth in the earnings of DACA beneficiaries. According to the results of two recent surveys. this wage growth surpassed 240 percent. a number that far exceeds the expectations in the literature." All around the country. this time of year is punctuated by graduation ceremonies. Parents and grandparents beam as their children and grandchildren earn their high school. college. and graduate degrees.