Opinion: Let’s come together in Congress to pass immigration reform that benefits all

Credit: Official House Photographer

Credit: Official House Photographer

Since President Barack Obama issued an executive order creating the DACA program in June of 2012, 20,000 Georgia Dreamers have been able to legally live, work and study free from the threat of deportation to a country they have never known. Today, the average DACA recipient in Georgia is 28 years old and has lived here for about 22 years.

Through DACA, many of these young people have earned an education, with 90% holding at least a high school education. DACA recipients have graduated college, joined the workforce across all levels and have made their mark as major economic multipliers, adding $3.5 billion in total wages and more than $960 million in combined taxes to Georgia’s economy. They have become doctors, lawyers, police officers and teachers. They’re also business owners who employ Georgians on Main Street, adding to the rich culture and diversity that makes our state competitive and the No. 1 state for doing business.

If DACA were to end, we’d suffer immediate repercussions. Families would be torn apart, leaving children of DACA recipients who are U.S. citizens without parents. Industries like education, agriculture and construction that are imperative to our state’s success will lose workers, with Georgia anticipated to suffer an estimated 600 monthly job losses should the program be terminated.

Given the program’s significant success, lawmakers, including myself, have tried for years to codify permanent protections for Dreamers into law through legislation such as the American Dream and Promise Act, among others. But unfortunately, Congress has failed to pass legislation fixing this problem. We simply cannot let our Dreamers down by failing to come up with a legislative solution.

Passing legislation that protects the many thousands of young Dreamers from deportation must be a priority for Congress. After all, Dreamers are American in every way but on paper. Congress must also pass reforms to other similar programs, such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which protects vulnerable individuals and families when they can’t return safely to their home countries, and helps support our workforce and economy. Today, a majority of our nation’s TPS holders have labor force participation rates over 80% and contribute about $14 billion to the national GDP each year. TPS is critically important for our economic well-being, however most recipients do not have access to an earned pathway to citizenship.

I urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to come together to support these well-intentioned programs that have enabled so many immigrants and their families to become good stewards of society and economic multipliers.

Let us put our political differences aside for the greater good and get a solution that puts humanity, order and fairness back into our nation’s immigration system – a feat that will benefit all Americans. I have always said I will not stop fighting for Georgia’s immigrant community and I will stay true to that promise today and every day.

U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia, represents Georgia’s 4th Congressional District.