According to reports, one of the possibilities the Trump administration is floating when it comes to the future of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a so-called “split decision” not allowing new applicants into the program but allowing current DACA enrollees to keep their status until their two-year work permits expire. But as America’s Voice notes, don’t be fooled by this “compassionate solution.” It will still devastate 1,400 lives and the lives of their families daily as applicants eventually see their status expire and lose their deportation protections and ability to work legally:
If the Administration ends the renewal of work permits and deportation protections for current DACA beneficiaries, and refuses to accept new applications for DACA, the impact will be profound and immediate. It will upend lives. Around 1,400 young people will lose their jobs every single day over the next two years. Children who are just turning sixteen and are finally eligible for the program will not be able apply. The documents people need to live their daily lives – such as work permits and driver’s licenses – will expire along with their DACA. This isn’t a humane way to phase out anything: it’s devastating and dream-crushing for both young people and their families.”
“As work authorizations provided by DACA expire,” noted a recent study, “beneficiaries of the program won't be able to keep their jobs, the study found. An average of 30,000 people will be out of work each month if DACA is repealed, it said.”
More from the study:
"For every business day that DACA renewals are put on hold, more than 1,400 DACA recipients will lose their ability to work and could be let go by American employers," the report said.
That would put significant pressure on employers to fill holes in their workforce.
"Using the most conservative estimates, ending DACA would impose massive costs on employers -- nearly $2 billion over two years," said David Bier, a policy analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute who was also on the call with reporters.
“If ... the Trump Administration does end DACA, we expect it will rely on obfuscation to downplay criticism,” America’s Voice continues. “If they announce the end of DACA via the termination of DACA renewals and applications, they will attempt to portray that as a humane and compassionate middle ground decision; but it would be just the opposite.”
There is a humane solution, though, and it’s simple: the administration should keep the program in place. DACA is alive and lawful, with the September 5 deadline from Texas and eight other states threatening to sue Trump—a threat Tennessee just split from, in a victory for immigrant youth—unless he ends the program nothing more than a manufactured crisis. In fact, the only date Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton should be worried about is the date for his upcoming criminal trial over fraud.
And, as DACA stays in place, Congress must work on passing the bipartisan DREAM Act legislation that would finally put immigrant youth on a path to citizenship so they can finally be American on paper. As recently as Friday, Speaker Paul Ryan said that DACA should stay but that this is ultimately Congress’s job to do. He’s right, and he should get to work. And, we must do our part by defending DACA, defending the DREAM Act, and saying that immigrant youth are here to stay.