Today marks 9 years since the creation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. On June 15, 2012, President Obama walked into the Rose Garden at the White House and announced that his administration had established a new program to stop the deportations of young immigrants who were brought into the United States as children, often referred to as “Dreamers.” Under DACA, these Dreamers would be granted temporary permission to stay in the country.
“They {Dreamers} are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper,” said President Obama during the announcement.
Since then, DACA has proven to be an incredibly popular and successful program both for the 800,000+ Dreamers and the country as a whole.
DACA recipients are employed at at least 72% of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies and 97% of them are currently employed or enrolled in school.
To celebrate DACA’s 9th anniversary today, I urge you to call your Senators at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to pass the Dream and Promise Act>>
The Dream and Promise Act, which passed in the House in March, provides permanent protections to over 4.4 million hardworking immigrants. If passed, the bill would allow Dreamers, TPS holders, and DED recipients to continue to contribute to the country they know by providing a pathway to legal residency and shielding them from deportation.