John,

DACA is under attack and unless Congress passes a legislative solution before the end of this year, 11 million undocumented people remain under the threat of detention and deportation without any form of protection.

Last year, the U.S. House acted, providing a pathway to citizenship for immigrants under DACA, for farmworkers and other essential workers, and for those here because of emergencies in their home countries. But the Senate failed to act.

With a new Congress coming in less than two months, it’s imperative that Congressional leadership and President Biden do all they can to pass legislation that offers permanent protection for DACA recipients and their families.

We cannot allow our neighbors to continue to live in legal limbo. We refuse to accept inaction from our elected officials. The only pathway forward is a legislative solution this year. Click here to write to your members of Congress, demanding they permanently protect undocumented youth now!

DACA is currently in the court of U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, who once before ruled that DACA was illegal. If Congress chooses not to act during the lame duck session, hundreds of thousands of essential workers could lose their work authorizations and face deportation, and the U.S. economy will lose as much as $11.7 billion annually—or roughly $1 billion monthly—in wages from previously employed DACA recipients.

Congressional inaction has led to confusion and chaos for undocumented communities and mixed status families. Congress must reckon with the injustices toward immigrant communities and pass permanent legal protections for undocumented youth NOW!

We know that DACA is right and legal. Now it’s time for Congress to make those protections permanent.

Thank you for all you do to protect immigrant youth,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs