Carper Statement on Oral Arguments in United States v. Texas

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released the following statement in reaction to oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Texas, reviewing President Obama’s executive actions on the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the new Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) programs.

“The programs at the heart of this court case are of critical importance for the tens of thousands of children and families they are designed to help. There are more than 11 million people living in this country without documentation, and for many of them,  young adults in particular, America is the only home they’ve known. Many of these people have been living in our communities for years, abiding by the law, paying taxes, attending our schools, and in some cases, even honorably serving our nation in the military. They are American in every way, except on paper. They deserve a chance to focus on work and school, while the government focuses on finding and deporting criminals and other immigrants who pose a threat to our communities.

“The DACA and DAPA programs are beneficial to both our federal budget and our economy. Over the next ten years, these initiatives would increase the national gross domestic product by $90 billion and go a long way toward lowering the federal deficit. These policies also work to ensure that the Department of Homeland Security can focus its time, attention and limited resources on addressing genuine threats to the safety and security of our country. The court should allow these programs to take effect, and we in Congress must continue our work to repair our broken immigration system.”