ARTICLE
Earlier this fall, I penned an article about the Dreamers and the challenges they face to stay in this country as Congress waddles along to make a decision on a pre-determined deadline of Friday, December 8. You can read that September article here: It is Time for Congress to Act The heat has been turned up on Congress as major business leaders across the country and particularly in California have written to Congress to request action on passing legislation. 34 Republicans demanded that Speaker Paul Ryan put legislation on the House floor that would legalize roughly 800,000 “Dreamers,” young immigrants who arrived illegally in the United States as children, who face deportation starting March 5 unless Congress acts. This is a significant movement in a stalemate Congress which has produced very little except a recently passed Tax Reform bill (we can discuss that later when the Senate and House Conference committee pushes out the final reform package for consideration) as well as some supplemental funding programs to address the recent spur of federally declared disasters like hurricanes, flooding and fires. If the 34 Republicans who signed the letter, including Californians Jeff Denham (Turlock), David Valadao (Hanford) and Mimi Walters (Irvine) join the 193 current House Democrats they would have more than the 218-vote majority they’d need to pass a bill. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Washington correspondent, Carolyn Lockheed provides a more detailed description of the legislative fix here. The unknown part of the story is the unfolding effort lead by California business leaders and the effective lobby effort that your Chamber of Commerce was asked to be a part of. The Regional Economic Association Leaders (R.E.A.L.) Coalition, an association of California’s most influential business and economic development entities (representing 20 member organizations and up to 15,000 employers who collectively provide up to 3.9 million California jobs), wrote the attached letter to Congressional leaders in October. Two weeks ago, the coalition conducted a conference call with media outlets in California and Washington DC who reported the advocacy effort. Many of the papers displayed Opinion Editorials from coalition executives in the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, Politico and other media outlets that cover national policies and politics. Of the nearly 800,000 DACA recipients across the country, an overwhelming number live in California (nearly 230,000). The vast majority are employed, and almost half of them are currently in school. Absent a solution, California will experience the biggest economic setback of any state in the nation, with an estimated loss of $11.6 billion in GDP. • Congress has until December 8 to deliver a Dream Act - the clock is ticking. Already, some DACA beneficiaries will begin to lose their work permits and deportation protections forever. It is up to Congress to pass a Dream Act so that immigrant youth can be protected and thrive. Consequences of ending DACA are seen now (20,000 people did not re-apply before the deadline, so they will start losing their jobs). We can’t wait until March 5. • Passing the Dream Act, and placing all of the potentially immediately eligible workers on a path to legal status, would add a total of $22.7 billion annually to the U.S. GDP. Because the gains from legalization grow each year, the cumulative increase in GDP over 10 years would be $281 billion. (From CAP 9/18/17) • If even half of all workers who are immediately eligible for the Dream Act complete the educational requirements to move from conditional status to lawful permanent residency the annual gains could be even higher, reaching as high as $728.4 billion cumulatively over a decade. (From CAP 9/18/17) • Extrapolating from the immediately eligible and employed population to the entire population who may one day be eligible for the Dream Act, the economic gains could be roughly 42% higher. (From CAP 9/18/17) • Over a decade, this means the GDP gains from the Dream Act could be as high as a cumulative $400 billion. • With the education bump, the gains could be as high as a cumulative $1 trillion. • On a per capita basis, passing the Dream Act would ultimately raise the average incomes of all Americans by approximately $82 - $273, annually. (From CAP 9/18/17) The Central Coast is not ground zero in the public debate about DACA, our region is rich in history about the value that our immigrant population provides to the economy. Your Chamber is proud to be a part of this board coalition of statewide business organizations that has assembled a strong list of reasons why helping the Dreamers is not only reasonable public policy; it is also economically responsible. We urge Congress to respond to this policy decision now.
Earlier this fall, I penned an article about the Dreamers and the challenges they face to stay in this country as Congress waddles along to make a decision on a pre-determined deadline of Friday, December 8.
You can read that September article here: It is Time for Congress to Act
The heat has been turned up on Congress as major business leaders across the country and particularly in California have written to Congress to request action on passing legislation. 34 Republicans demanded that Speaker Paul Ryan put legislation on the House floor that would legalize roughly 800,000 “Dreamers,” young immigrants who arrived illegally in the United States as children, who face deportation starting March 5 unless Congress acts.
This is a significant movement in a stalemate Congress which has produced very little except a recently passed Tax Reform bill (we can discuss that later when the Senate and House Conference committee pushes out the final reform package for consideration) as well as some supplemental funding programs to address the recent spur of federally declared disasters like hurricanes, flooding and fires. If the 34 Republicans who signed the letter, including Californians Jeff Denham (Turlock), David Valadao (Hanford) and Mimi Walters (Irvine) join the 193 current House Democrats they would have more than the 218-vote majority they’d need to pass a bill.
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Washington correspondent, Carolyn Lockheed provides a more detailed description of the legislative fix here.
The unknown part of the story is the unfolding effort lead by California business leaders and the effective lobby effort that your Chamber of Commerce was asked to be a part of. The Regional Economic Association Leaders (R.E.A.L.) Coalition, an association of California’s most influential business and economic development entities (representing 20 member organizations and up to 15,000 employers who collectively provide up to 3.9 million California jobs), wrote the attached letter to Congressional leaders in October. Two weeks ago, the coalition conducted a conference call with media outlets in California and Washington DC who reported the advocacy effort. Many of the papers displayed Opinion Editorials from coalition executives in the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, Politico and other media outlets that cover national policies and politics.
Of the nearly 800,000 DACA recipients across the country, an overwhelming number live in California (nearly 230,000). The vast majority are employed, and almost half of them are currently in school. Absent a solution, California will experience the biggest economic setback of any state in the nation, with an estimated loss of $11.6 billion in GDP.
• Congress has until December 8 to deliver a Dream Act - the clock is ticking. Already, some DACA beneficiaries will begin to lose their work permits and deportation protections forever. It is up to Congress to pass a Dream Act so that immigrant youth can be protected and thrive. Consequences of ending DACA are seen now (20,000 people did not re-apply before the deadline, so they will start losing their jobs). We can’t wait until March 5. • Passing the Dream Act, and placing all of the potentially immediately eligible workers on a path to legal status, would add a total of $22.7 billion annually to the U.S. GDP. Because the gains from legalization grow each year, the cumulative increase in GDP over 10 years would be $281 billion. (From CAP 9/18/17) • If even half of all workers who are immediately eligible for the Dream Act complete the educational requirements to move from conditional status to lawful permanent residency the annual gains could be even higher, reaching as high as $728.4 billion cumulatively over a decade. (From CAP 9/18/17) • Extrapolating from the immediately eligible and employed population to the entire population who may one day be eligible for the Dream Act, the economic gains could be roughly 42% higher. (From CAP 9/18/17) • Over a decade, this means the GDP gains from the Dream Act could be as high as a cumulative $400 billion. • With the education bump, the gains could be as high as a cumulative $1 trillion. • On a per capita basis, passing the Dream Act would ultimately raise the average incomes of all Americans by approximately $82 - $273, annually. (From CAP 9/18/17)
The Central Coast is not ground zero in the public debate about DACA, our region is rich in history about the value that our immigrant population provides to the economy. Your Chamber is proud to be a part of this board coalition of statewide business organizations that has assembled a strong list of reasons why helping the Dreamers is not only reasonable public policy; it is also economically responsible. We urge Congress to respond to this policy decision now.