On Tuesday, September 5th President Trump rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals act which allowed some individuals who entered the country as minors, and had either entered or remained undocumented, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for a work permit. Research shows that DACA increased the wages and labor force participation of DACA-eligible immigrants and reduced the number of unauthorized immigrant households living in poverty. More evidence has proven that the mental health of DACA-eligible immigrants and their children has positively increased and most economists agree that DACA benefits our economy.
In The Economic and Fiscal Impact of Repealing DACA, the CATO Institute reiterates the economic contributions that DACA recipients make to the U.S., dispelling the common misunderstanding that DACA recipients are a burden on tax payers. CATO estimates that deporting the approximately 750,000 DACA recipients would not only cost tax payers $60 billion, but would also reduce the U.S. economic growth by $280 billion over coming decades.
NAHREP leaders will continue to provide further thought leadership regarding DACA and other policy matters in the coming months as it prepares for the 2018 Housing Policy & Hispanic Lending Conference. We invite you to join us on February 28th as we meet with legislators on Capitol Hill to advocate for our policy positions which will help to increase sustainable homeownership in the Hispanic community. For more information, visit https://nahrep.org/dc2018