Letter: RAC, DREAM acts are needed legislation

Ten state attorney generals recently wrote the White House asking the president to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allowed about 27,000 Washington residents to stay in the United States temporarily to work.

These young people pay taxes, have mortgages and own cars and businesses. Most of them don’t remember the nations they came from. Sending them back to “homes” where they may not know a soul would be a humanitarian disaster. These individuals contribute about $1.1 billion to our state economy.

President Donald Trump recognizes these facts and has kept DACA in place. The ACLU of Washington recently filed an open records request to determine if the U.S. Department of Justice is honoring the president’s stance or if it’s working with those who want to end DACA.

Regardless of what that request uncovers, Congress needs to act. The U.S. House of Representatives’ Recognizing America’s Children (RAC) Act and the Senate DREAM Act would allow these individuals to stay here. The vast majority of voters, including more than three-quarters of Republicans, support DACA. I hope Rep. McMorris Rodgers will keep pace and support either the RAC Act or the DREAM Act.

This story was originally published August 24, 2017 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Letter: RAC, DREAM acts are needed legislation."