In mid-July, federal judge Andrew Hanen of Houston ruled on a administrative procedural technicality that President Obama in 2012 had exceeded his authority when creating DACA-Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. This ruling has dashed the dreams of 800,000 Dreamers who have been in limbo since then. Now major corporations are urging Congress and Pres. Biden to do the right thing and pass long-overdue legislation that was thwarted by the previous administration and ignored by Congress. All of the research I have seen indicates that the American economy depends on immigrant labor to thrive. The CEOs push this time to at least provide for the very popular Dream Act legislation to be passed will make a difference for a small segment of the population. Comprehensive immigration reform has a hard, long battle ahead, but “Poco a poco, se llega muy lejos.” Meredith Machen, LWVUS Immigration Group, co-moderator
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More than 90 CEOs, including Apple’s Tim Cook, are urging Congress to pass a law offering a citizenship path to young immigrants brought illegally to the US as children, Bloomberg reports.
In the letter signed by Apple’s Tim Cook, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Amazon’s Andy Jassy, Microsoft’s Brad Smith, and many others, the CEOs write on behalf of the “recent ruling in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.”
“The district court’s ruling is devastating for hundreds of thousands of Dreamers, as it found the program to be unlawful. While it allows those who currently have DACA to continue to renew their status—for now—it further throws into chaos the lives of these Dreamers and impedes their ability to legally work and contribute to our country.
We strongly urge Congress to pass legislation to provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. Securing a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers not only is the right thing to do, but is a huge economic benefit to the United States.“
It’s not the first time Apple and Tim Cook put their voices and names behind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, policy. In 2019, Apple said that it employed 443 DACA holders – or Dreamers – across 36 states in the United States. In 2017, Apple employed 250 Dreamers, so that number has grown by quite a bit since then.
In this new letter signed by over 90 CEOs, Tim Cook and other chief executives officers even quoted President Biden’s speech after meeting with Dreamers: “These young people are part of the fabric of our nation and vital to our future.”
The letter follows:
“Dreamers add billions of dollars to our GDP; they are employees who fill key roles at our companies; they pay federal, state, and local taxes; they work with us, start their own small businesses, teach our children in school, and serve in our military. About half of all Dreamers are essential workers who have been serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis.“
These CEOs are urging Congress to pass legislation that creates a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and allows them to remain in the US to work, attend school, and/or serve in the military without fear of deportation.
According to Bloomberg, President Biden proposed a pathway to citizenship for 11 million people living illegally in the US, “but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this year opted for a pared-back approach to attract support from moderate Democrats.”
Meredith Machen
League of Women Voters of New Mexico
Empowering Voters - Defending Democracy