Washington, D.C. — Following the September 5 announcement from the Trump administration that they will end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)—a program that, since 2012, has helped nearly 800,000 young people gain a temporary reprieve from deportation and a work permit—the conversation has now shifted to the urgent need for Congress to pass legislation such as the Dream Act, which would provide permanent protection and a pathway to citizenship to unauthorized immigrants who came to the country as children. As new analysis that will be released by the Center for American Progress finds, passing the Dream Act and legalizing the immediately eligible and in-the-workforce population would add at least a cumulative $281 billion to the U.S. GDP over 10 years, a figure that could rise to as high as $1 trillion over a decade if everyone who could be eligible for the Dream Act is put on the pathway to citizenship. (To request an embargoed copy of CAP’s new analysis, please email [email protected]).
Please join the Center for American Progress Action Fund on Tuesday, September 19, for a press call with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the number two Democrat in the Senate who first introduced the Dream Act 16 years ago, Randel Johnson from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Alex Nowrasteh from the CATO Institute to discuss the moral imperative, social benefits, and economic impact of putting young unauthorized immigrants on a pathway to citizenship—a move that polls show is extremely popular with the American public at large.
WHO:
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senate Democratic Whip; Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration
Randel K. Johnson, Senior Vice President, Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Alex Nowrasteh, Immigration Policy Analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, CATO Institute
Moderator:
Philip E. Wolgin, Managing Director of Immigration Policy, Center for American Progress Action Fund
WHEN:
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
11:45 a.m. EST
WHERE:
Dial-in number: (800) 474-8920
Conference ID: 9604174
To receive an embargoed copy of CAP’s new analysis, please contact Tanya Arditi at [email protected].