Senator Carper Highlights 3rd Anniversary of DACA

WASHINGTON – Today,  Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, highlighted three years since President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy directive, which offers a 2-year deportation reprieve and potential work authorization to young adults who were brought to the United States as children and have since attended U.S. schools or honorably served the nation through military service.

“There are more than 11 million people living in this country without documentation. Many of these individuals are American in every way, except on paper – especially those brought here as young children. Three years ago, President Obama took action to help thousands of those people step out of the shadows,” Sen. Carper said. “From its beginning, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy directive has helped young students realize their potential to make positive contributions to America as adults. This policy, which allows law-abiding, productive young people who already live in our communities to work legally and pay full taxes, is beneficial to our economy and our federal budget. This policy has also ensured 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. While this policy helps assure promising futures for thousands of young immigrants, DACA is just a temporary and partial solution. Our nation also needs comprehensive immigration reform that addresses many of the root causes of undocumented immigration and takes steps to fix our broken and outdated immigration system.”

According to the Council of Economic Advisers, DACA, with other immigration policies announced in November 2014, would increase the national gross domestic product by $90 billion over the next 10 years and decrease federal deficits between $25 billion and $60 billion over the next 10 years.

According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 1,209 young people in Delaware have received relief from deportation under DACA. To learn more about young people across the country benefitting from DACA, read the National Council of La Raza report released today, “Living the American DREAM: Profiles of DACA Recipients.”

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