Congress should make Dreamers’ protections permanent

The Supreme Court’s rejection of the Trump administration’s attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program filled myself, my family, the nearly 700,000 other DACA recipients nationwide and those that rely on us with something we haven’t felt in a long time – relief. Although temporary, for a fleeting moment, we were able to take a deep breath after years of legal limbo.

But despite this positive momentum, President Donald Trump has already said that his administration will try again to end DACA, even though the majority of Americans, including those that voted for the president in 2016, disagree with this approach. The only way to end this legal back and forth – and the fear and uncertainty that DACA recipients face – is for Congress to pass permanent legal protections for DACA recipients, also referred to as Dreamers.

The DACA program has meant so much to my family and I. After coming to the U.S. when I was 12, I applied for and was granted DACA status, allowing me to legally work and study in America without fear of deportation. In 2017, the Trump administration attempted to suspend the program. The court battle that has ensued has left us in fear that we’d be separated from our communities, places of work, and, for me – my U.S. citizen son.

The DACA program has been a huge success over the past eight years since it’s 2012 enactment. Many DACA recipients are small-business owners, we volunteer in our communities, and thousands of us are on the frontlines fighting COVID-19 in essential roles and industries. We are serving in critical roles in healthcare as doctors, physician assistants and nurses. Outside of health care, we are keeping the economy running and are employed in crucial industries like warehousing, grocery and drug stores and transportation.

If the DACA program is rescinded again without a congressional solution in place, forcing the removal of DACA recipients, the U.S. economy would suffer an estimated $460.3 billion loss in GDP over the next decade. Further, DACA authorized workers annually contribute more than $5 billion in federal taxes and an estimated $3.1 billion in state and local taxes. We also have an estimated $24 billion in spending power that can be used to uplift states’ economies that have been impacted by COVID-19.

Although I wasn’t born here, I consider myself an American. Alaska is my home. Hundreds of thousands of Dreamers nationwide feel the same way about this country, and we’re contributing to our communities, economies and, importantly, our shared pandemic response.

I hope that Sen. Lisa Murkowski calls on the Trump administration to halt their renewed attempts to terminate DACA. This program is benefiting our country at a time we need to support each other and come together most. To end the program would be immoral and unwise.

And while the Supreme Court’s recent ruling was a tremendous victory, the job is not finished. I thank Sen. Murkowski for always being a loyal supporter of Dreamers and strongly encourage her to listen to the overwhelming majority of American people – on both sides of the aisle – who support Dreamers by passing the American Dream and Promise Act. This bill would provide us with permanent protections, was passed in the House a year ago, and is currently waiting for a vote in the Senate.

I hope that one day, the relief I felt after the recent Supreme Court decision is no longer temporary, but permanent, and legislation is the only way to achieve this.

H.J. Kim is a DACA recipient who arrived in the U.S. at the age of 13. She attended high school in Anchorage and graduated from the University of Montana in 2010. After graduation, she returned home to Alaska. She works for the state of Alaska. She and her son are hiking 100 miles this summer raising money for his school.

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