Letter: Don’t deport DACA recipients
President Trump promised to show “great heart” toward almost 800,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. These young immigrants were brought to the United States as children, have little if any criminal history, and were educated here.
They are not gang members and drug dealers. They are Americans in every way except their immigration status.
This is the only country they have ever truly known.
Instead of continuing to provide work authorization and a temporary reprieve from deportation, the President may rescind the DACA program on Tuesday. This would be a terrible decision, not only for DACA recipients and their families but also for American businesses and our communities.
The conservative CATO institute and others estimate that deporting DACA recipients will cost $60 billion and result in at least $230 billion in lost economic growth during the next decade.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the other state plaintiffs in Texas et al. v. United States et al. should reconsider their position on DACA, especially in light of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey.
Texas will take years to rebuild and can use all the help it can get, including DACA first responders, construction workers, nurses, and others.
Jonathan Shaklee, Richland
This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Letter: Don’t deport DACA recipients."