All they want is to live and work and contribute to our great
country. Why wouldn't we want them to? The President's decision yesterday to end DACA threw their futures in
doubt, threatening to rip apart families and telling people who have
worked so hard to become Americans that they have to leave the country. The President's DACA decision is also bad economics. It would deprive
thousands of employers that rely on these hard workers. The Libertarian-leaning Cato Institute estimates that ending DACA
would cost employers over $2 billion in 2 years alone. The Center for
American Progress found it would drain $433 billion from our GDP over
10 years. That is why more than 500 business leaders--some of the
leading business people in our country--have signed on to a letter in
defense of DACA. That is why Microsoft recently said that protecting
the Dreamers was their No. 1 legislative goal, greater than a cut to
the corporate tax rate. That is how much Dreamers mean to them
personally and to their bottom lines. The economic consequence of ending DACA would be far-reaching and
likely devastating. There would also be a devastating moral cost if we
didn't pass the Dream Act to protect these kids. I am reminded of a young woman, Kirssy Martinez, who was brought to
this country from the Dominican Republic as a very young child and grew
up in my city, in the borough of the Bronx. After graduating high
school in New York City, Kirssy was stuck in the shadows. She worked
small jobs as a waitress and as a babysitter. Though she was a good
student coming out of high school and even had a few scholarship
offers, she couldn't attend college because she didn't have a green
card. The DACA Program granted her temporary legal status. She worked hard
to scrape together enough for loans and enrolled in Bronx Community
College. A few years ago, I spoke at her graduation, where she was the
covaledictorian of her class.
Keywords matched
green
card DACA