WRITTEN BY PAUL BITETTI
Although undocumented immigrants are often regarded as the sole victims of the uncertainty of U.S. immigration law reform, corporations have also been adversely affected. One of the focal points of this conflict over immigration is the presidential directive, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). DACA is a discretionary grant of stay and work authorization by the federal government to undocumented immigrants, who were brought to the United States illegally as children. Signed into law as an executive order by President Obama, DACA has now been in place for the past seven years. Although there has been a growing sentiment across the United States to revoke DACA, many corporations actually favor continuing the program. Despite the lack of media attention to the corporate proponents, a coalition of some of the largest corporations in the United States has formed to lobby for the continued success and improvement of the program.
Studies about the effects of DACA reveal that its recipients and many American employers and colleges have flourished under the policy. According to the University of California, “eighty-seven percent of respondents to the 2016 survey are currently employed, with an additional 8 percent not working but in school.” The survey also reveals that “DACA increased [recipient’s] average hourly wages by more than 40 percent,” and provided recipients with opportunities to move up to managerial roles and start their own companies. Further, the national economy has also received a substantial boosts from the program. Experts estimate that the abolition of the program would lead to a loss of “$460.3 billion from the national GDP over the next decade” and the removal of an estimated “685,000 workers from the nation’s economy.”
Although DACA has clear economic benefits for recipients, American Universities and corporations, as well as the country, the backlash against it is constant. One of the first initiatives of President Trump’s tenure was to issue Executive Order No. 13,768, which directed federal agencies to “ensure the faithful execution of the immigration laws . . . against all [undocumented immigrants],” and to create stricter immigration enforcement policies. Further comments from the Trump Administration made it clear that DACA recipients would be considered undocumented immigrants for purposes of Executive Order No. 13,768 and would not be protected from the enforcement of immigration laws or policies. Although two U.S. district court judges (Judge Hannen and Judge Forrest) have halted the government’s attempts to suspend the DACA program, the program’s status continues to remain uncertain. Currently, the Department of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is still accepting DACA applications from individuals who currently are or previously have been recipients of the program. However, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has issued a discovery schedule and set a trial date for litigation on the legality of the program in May 2020.
The current legal vulnerability of DACA has placed a considerable hardship on corporations who have already hired DACA recipients or who wish to hire them. The burden is particularly onerous for companies who jobs require lengthy training periods, highly educated employees, and highly skilled workers. The Executive Vice President at Univision, Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, recently stated that Univision is truly concerned that if DACA is abolished, Univision will “los[e] valuable talent and skill-sets from across [the] company and [be] forced to back-fill position[s]” that are currently occupied by DACA workers. Univision and many other corporations fear that if DACA is revoked they will be forced to either fire their valuable DACA employees or face criminal liability (8 U.S Code §1324a). The fear and uncertainty felt by many corporations has led to the creation of the Coalition for the American Dream.
The Coalition of nearly 60 companies is composed of by some of the largest corporations in the United States, including “Amazon, Apple, Facebook, General Motors, Google, Hewlett Packard, IBM and Microsoft . . . .” In a letter sent to the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, the Coalition has come out against President Trump’s desire to end DACA. The Coalition explained that they not only want DACA to remain in existence, but they largely hope that the current work authorization period for DACA recipients is extended. Currently, corporations face a serious dilemma between wanting to employ qualified DACA recipients and fearing that they if they hire a DACA recipient, they may lose a valuable employee in a short period of time.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an employee in the United States remains at a job for an average of 4.6 years. However, an employee “in management, professional, and related occupations had the highest” average tenure at a job. These employees on average remain at a job for 5.5 years. Thus, the current two-year period of work authorization places DACA recipients and those corporations who wish to hire them at a severe disadvantage. Thus, an extension of the work authorization period from two to five years would allow DACA recipients an opportunity to establish themselves at a particular corporation, while also giving the corporation ample time to invest valuable training resources in talented DACA recipients.
The uncertainty behind the current legal status of DACA is undoubtedly causing significant harm to individual DACA recipients, but it is also costing American companies and the national economy dearly as well. Ultimately, federal legislation which continues DACA and extends the work authorization period for these young immigrants would preserve DACA recipients right to work, benefit the United States economy, and help corporations who wish to hire DACA workers.