Statement on the Administration’s Decision to End DACA

NEW YORK, NY – Following the announcement that the administration will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, which grants law-abiding undocumented youth a renewable two-year reprieve from deportation and the ability to work, New American Economy President John Feinblatt issued the following statement:

“Ending DACA will disrupt hundreds of thousands of promising careers and cost the U.S. economy dearly,” said John Feinblatt, President of New American Economy. “Now it’s imperative for Congress to do what’s right and economically smart – protect the young achievers who know no home but America.”

In the aftermath of the decision, NAE is mobilizing its state coalitions to speak out against this reversal, which will have significant consequences for state economies across the country. Business and conservative leaders in more than a dozen states are taking action to defend the 800,000 DACA recipients by highlighting the impact these young men and women have on their state economies. This effort will leverage a new NAE research brief which shines a spotlight on the makeup and economic contributions of the DACA-eligible population nationally.

The brief, Spotlight on the DACA-Eligible Population, finds:

• Despite the rhetoric claiming undocumented youths are a drain on the U.S. economy, 90 percent of the DACA-eligible population who are at least 16 years old are employed.
• In 2015, DACA-eligible entrepreneurs had a total business income of $658.7 million, a significant boost to local economies across the country.
• DACA-eligible population earns almost $19.9 billion in total income annually. They contribute more than $1.4 billion to federal taxes and more than $1.6 billion to state and local taxes in the United States. They also hold significant economic clout after taxes, with almost $16.8 billion in spending power.

NAE petitions to oppose DACA repeal have garnered more than 20,000 signers from around the country.

Read the full brief here.

For DREAMer stories and interview subjects, please email James Scimecca.