More than twenty years ago, legislation to achieve this was introduced with the DREAM Act. It repeatedly failed to pass and for ten more years, hundreds of thousands of young immigrants lived in the shadows in fear of deportation, unable to legally work or obtain a driver’s license.
In 2012, President Obama created a temporary solution, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), bringing more than 600,000 Americans out of the shadows. All have at least a high school degree, are in school or serve in the military. According to the Center for American Progress, they pay ten billion dollars in taxes, almost a billion in mortgages and more than two billion in rent. Many are frontline workers and small business owners. They provide financially for their children and family members. Thousands are Ohioans. They are your friends, neighbors and co-workers.
Today, their lives hang in the balance. The DACA program has been repeatedly jeopardized by back-and-forth in the courts as it is challenged and decisions are appealed. This introduces agonizing uncertainty to the lives of those with DACA and their families because DACA requires renewal every two years.
Imagine having to fear ending of renewals. You might be deported to a country where you do not know the language, where you may not even have or know any distant relatives. Imagine the horror of no longer being able to provide for your own children.
Many are suffering right now because judicial action froze the processing of new applications. All across the country, more than a million people are DACA-eligible but are living in the shadows, with no work permit, driver’s license and living in agonizing fear of deportation.
The solution has been very clear. Congress must pass legislation to provide permanent protection, including a path to citizenship, for those who arrived in this country as children. In 2021, the U.S. House passed the Dream and Promise Act and now in 2022, the Senate must act.
My house of faith is a member of the Miami Valley Immigration Coalition and I join with them in calling on Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown to act now. Please contact our senators to urge them to allow these hardworking people to fully contribute to their families and communities. Pass permanent protections and a path to citizenship for DREAMERS now.
Donald Nguyen, MD is a local pediatric surgical specialist and a health care activist.
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