CHICAGO, IL — On Sunday, October 8, the White House sent a list of principles for immigration enforcement to Congress in exchange for a legislative solution to DACA. The extensive list of principles includes funding for a southern border wall, a merit-based immigration system with deep cuts to visas for family members, mandatory E-Verify, and withholding federal grant money from sanctuary cities, among other provisions.
While there is no doubt that we need a more orderly and streamlined immigration system, our immediate concern is to replace DACA with sensible legislation in order to prevent disruptions to our workforce and the lives of 780,000 DACA recipients. There is broad bipartisan support from both Congress and the American people for finding a legislative solution to DACA – including 73 percent of Trump voters.
Further, in protecting DACA recipients, we do not want to sacrifice our economy or the parents of DACA recipients by restricting employers’ access to a global workforce and reducing the number of foreign-born workers allowed in our country – workers that are desperately needed in both high and low-skill sectors.
With the deadline for passing a legislative solution to DACA closing in, it is urgent that Congress focuses on passing legislation that will allow DACA recipients to continue to work, go to school, pay taxes, and grow our economy.
The Illinois Business Immigration Coalition promotes commonsense immigration reform that advances Illinois economic competitiveness, provides Illinois companies with both the high-skilled and low-skilled talent they need, and allows the integration of immigrants into our economy as consumers, workers, entrepreneurs and citizens.