November 14, 2022
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
United States House of Representatives H-232, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Charles E. Schumer Majority Leader
United States Senate
S-221, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20510
Re: Prioritizing protections for immigrant youth and DACA recipients in end-of-year package
Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer,
The over 225 undersigned state, local, and national immigrant, labor, faith, civil, health, and human rights organizations write to urge you to take action to protect immigrant youth and DACA recipients. Immigrant youth across the country have been calling for permanent protections with a pathway to citizenship for decades. The implementation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2012 gave life-changing protection from deportation and the ability to work lawfully to hundreds of thousands of immigrant youth. But it has never been enough.
Early last month, DACA-eligible youth received the decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on the DACA policy and were once again left with uncertainty and a threat to their livelihood and ability to stay in the country they call home. The Fifth Circuit upheld a lower ruling finding the 2012 DACA memo to be unlawful and sent the case back to the lower court to consider the Biden administration’s new DACA regulation. Once again, immigrant youth have been left to anxiously await another court decision that will most likely upend their lives and futures. While this decision allowed for DACA renewals to continue temporarily, over 90,000 DACA-eligible youth continue to have their initial applications stalled. The writing on the wall is clear: DACA is dying. As Speaker of the House and Majority Leader of the Senate, we urge you to prioritize DACA protections in any end-of-year package.
The time to act is now, the potential incoming anti-immigrant majority in the House has been crystal clear in their opposition to providing protections for undocumented immigrants. Immigrant youth cannot continue to wait for Congress to act while the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court await the opportunity to terminate the program once and for all. In this time of deep urgency, we need your leadership to ensure Congress passes this long overdue and urgently needed legislation. The American people strongly support DACA, 74% of Americans favor a law that would provide permanent legal status to immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, including 92% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.
The termination of DACA will be catastrophic for local communities, families and our workforce. A 2021 analysis by the Center for American Progress reports that DACA recipient households pay $6.2 billion in federal taxes and $3.3 billion in state and local taxes each year. Additionally, the data has shown that more than three-quarters of DACA recipients in the workforce – that is 343,000 DACA recipients – have been essential employees during the COVID-19. There is simply no more time to delay, protecting DACA must be a top end-of-year priority.
We cannot let this Congress pass and leave the future of DACA up to a potentially GOP-controlled House and conservative-controlled Supreme Court, the time is now. DACA recipients have lived in uncertainty and two year increments for far too long – and many more continue to live without any protections at all. We urge you to make legislation for them a top priority and ensure the passage of a final omnibus that includes permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship for the millions of immigrant youth who call this country home.
Sincerely,
National Organizations
African Communities Together
Alianza Americas
American Civil Liberties Union
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
CASA
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for Popular Democracy
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Children’s HealthWatch
Church World Service
Communities for United Status & Protection (CUSP)
Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces Disciples Immigration Legal Counsel
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities
First Focus Campaign for Children
Freedom Network USA
Futures Without Violence
Health Outreach Partners
Hispanic Federation
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Hub
Immigration Team of MSJC
Japanese American Citizens League
Justice Action Center
Justice in Motion
Latin America Working Group (LAWG)
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Marianist Social Justice Collaborative
Marianist Social Justice Collaborative Immigration Working Group Mennonite Central Committee U.S.
MomsRising/MamásConPoder
MoveOn
Muslim Advocates
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd National Council of Asian Pacific Americans
National Council of Jewish Women
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Education Association
National Immigration Law Center
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights National Partnership for New Americans
Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New American Leaders
New American Leaders Action Fund
Next100
OCAAsian Pacific Advocates of Greater Seattle
OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates
People’s Action
Poder Latinx
Presente.org
Prevention Institute
RAICES
Raj Khalsa Gurdwara, Sikh Temple
Save the Children
Save the Children Action Network
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team
The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy and Innovation The Workers Circle
UnidosUS
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice
United Church of Christ Justice and Local Church Ministries United We Dream
USC
Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights
State and Local Organizations
ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
ACLU People Power Fairfax
Advancing Latinas into Leadership
Ahri Center
AIDS Foundation Chicago
Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education AMANI WOMEN CENTER
American River College
APLA Health
Asian American Advocacy Fund
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Southern California Asian Americans United
Asian and Pacific American Network of Oregon
Asian Health Services
Asian Services in Action (ASIA)
Asociación Dominicana de Carolina del norte
Avanzamos Unidos
Breakthrough Central Texas
Broward for Progress
Buen Vecino
Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC, Inc.
California Association of Food Banks
California Primary Care Association
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLA Foundation) California WIC Association
CARECEN
Casa de la Cultura
Casa San Jose
CDF Action, Inc.
Center for Immigrant Progress
Central American Resource Center – CARECEN- of California Central American Resource Center of Northern CA – CARECEN SF Change Begins With ME (Indivisible)
Chinese Progressive Association
CIPC
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), ISA Coalición de Líderes Latinos-CLILA
Coalition on Homelessness
Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy & Research Organization CLLARO Community Action Marin
Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County
Community Legal Advocates of NY
Community of Reconciliation
Comunidades Sin Fronteras CSF-CT INC
Comunidades Unidas – UT
Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible
COOLJC Region 8 SJEREC
Corners Outreach
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House, Washington DC
Dorothy Day House, Washington DC
DRUM – Desis Rising Up & Moving
Dsi International Inc
El Centro del Inmigrante
El Pueblo
El Vínculo Hispano/ The Hispanic Liaison
Employee Rights Center (ERC)
Ethnē Health
Feeding New York State
First Lutheran
Florida Health Justice Project
Florida Immigrant Coalition
Food for People
GALEO Impact Fund, Inc.
GALEO Latino Community Development Fund
GLIDE
Global Wordsmiths
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
GRACE/End Child Poverty California
Green Party of Allegheny County
HANA Center
HIAS Pennsylvania
Hispanic Unity of Florida
Honest Arizona
Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative
Hunger Action Los Angeles Inc
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Inspiritus, Inc.
Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center
Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America (IFCLA)
Interfaith Welcome Coalition – San Antonio
International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Atlanta, Miami & Tallahassee Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice of Western Mass Jewish Community Relations Council or Greater Washington Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles
Jewish Family Service of San Diego
Justice at Work (Pennsylvania)
Justice for All Immigrants
Justicia y Esperanza
La Clínica de La Raza
La Fuerza NC
Larkin Street Youth Services
Latin American Association
Latino Action Network Foundation
Latino Community Fund INC (LCF Georgia)
LatinoNet
Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County
Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition
Long Island Immigration Clinic
Long Island Immigration Clinic/Sisters of St. Joseph
Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition
Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition Maternal and Child Health Access
Miami Valley Immigration Coalition
Miami Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Michigan Dreamers
Mixteca Organization Inc.
Motivation Motivates
Nebraska Appleseed
New American Pathways
New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) New York Immigration Coalition
North Carolina Justice Center
Northeast Valley Health Corporation
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
Nourish California
OCAAsian Pacific Islander American Advocates Utah OCA Greater Chicago
OCA Greater Cleveland – Asian Pacific American Advocates OCA-APAAdvocates, Greater Washington DC Chapter OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates Greater Houston Chapter One Region – Metro Atlanta
OneAmerica
OPAWL – Building AAPI Feminist Leadership
Oregon Food Bank
Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition – PICC PIIN, Community of Reconciliation
Pjals
Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
Progressive Peace Coalition
Refuge Coffee Co.
Refugee Women’s Network
Re’Generation Movement
Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
SEPA MUJER INC.
Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) South Bay People Power
Student Action with Farmworkers
SURJ Marin – Showing up for Racial Justice
The Association of Mexicans in North Carolina INC. (AMEXCAN) The Business & Immigration for Georgia (BIG) Partnership The Gubbio Project
The Women’s Building
Together Colorado
UC Immigrant Legal Services Center
University of California Student Association
UU Justice Ohio
Venice Family Clinic
Violence Intervention Program
Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations Virginia Latino Leaders Council
Voices for Utah Children
Westchester Jewish Coalition for Immigration Western Center on Law and Poverty William E. Morris Institute for Justice Young Latino Network
