225+ Orgs Sign Letter to Speaker Pelosi & Leader Schumer re: Prioritizing protections for immigrant youth and DACA recipients in end-of-year

November 14, 2022 

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi 

Speaker 

United States House of Representatives H-232, The Capitol 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Charles E. Schumer Majority Leader 

United States Senate 

S-221, The Capitol 

Washington, DC 20510 

Re: Prioritizing protections for immigrant youth and DACA recipients in end-of-year package 

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer, 

The over 225 undersigned state, local, and national immigrant, labor, faith, civil, health, and human rights organizations write to urge you to take action to protect immigrant youth and DACA recipients. Immigrant youth across the country have been calling for permanent protections with a pathway to citizenship for decades. The implementation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2012 gave life-changing protection from deportation and the ability to work lawfully to hundreds of thousands of immigrant youth. But it has never been enough. 

Early last month, DACA-eligible youth received the decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on the DACA policy and were once again left with uncertainty and a threat to their livelihood and ability to stay in the country they call home. The Fifth Circuit upheld a lower ruling finding the 2012 DACA memo to be unlawful and sent the case back to the lower court to consider the Biden administration’s new DACA regulation. Once again, immigrant youth have been left to anxiously await another court decision that will most likely upend their lives and futures. While this decision allowed for DACA renewals to continue temporarily, over 90,000 DACA-eligible youth continue to have their initial applications stalled. The writing on the wall is clear: DACA is dying. As Speaker of the House and Majority Leader of the Senate, we urge you to prioritize DACA protections in any end-of-year package. 

The time to act is now, the potential incoming anti-immigrant majority in the House has been crystal clear in their opposition to providing protections for undocumented immigrants. Immigrant youth cannot continue to wait for Congress to act while the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court await the opportunity to terminate the program once and for all. In this time of deep urgency, we need your leadership to ensure Congress passes this long overdue and urgently needed legislation. The American people strongly support DACA, 74% of Americans favor a law that would provide permanent legal status to immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, including 92% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.

The termination of DACA will be catastrophic for local communities, families and our workforce. A 2021 analysis by the Center for American Progress reports that DACA recipient households pay $6.2 billion in federal taxes and $3.3 billion in state and local taxes each year. Additionally, the data has shown that more than three-quarters of DACA recipients in the workforce – that is 343,000 DACA recipients – have been essential employees during the COVID-19. There is simply no more time to delay, protecting DACA must be a top end-of-year priority. 

We cannot let this Congress pass and leave the future of DACA up to a potentially GOP-controlled House and conservative-controlled Supreme Court, the time is now. DACA recipients have lived in uncertainty and two year increments for far too long – and many more continue to live without any protections at all. We urge you to make legislation for them a top priority and ensure the passage of a final omnibus that includes permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship for the millions of immigrant youth who call this country home. 

Sincerely, 

National Organizations 

African Communities Together 

Alianza Americas 

American Civil Liberties Union 

American Federation of Teachers (AFT) 

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) 

Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO 

Bend the Arc: Jewish Action 

CASA 

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) 

Center for Popular Democracy 

CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers 

Children’s HealthWatch 

Church World Service 

Communities for United Status & Protection (CUSP) 

Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim 

Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces Disciples Immigration Legal Counsel 

Empowering Pacific Islander Communities 

First Focus Campaign for Children 

Freedom Network USA

Futures Without Violence 

Health Outreach Partners 

Hispanic Federation 

Human Rights Campaign 

Immigration Hub 

Immigration Team of MSJC 

Japanese American Citizens League 

Justice Action Center 

Justice in Motion 

Latin America Working Group (LAWG) 

League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Marianist Social Justice Collaborative 

Marianist Social Justice Collaborative Immigration Working Group Mennonite Central Committee U.S. 

MomsRising/MamásConPoder 

MoveOn 

Muslim Advocates 

National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd National Council of Asian Pacific Americans 

National Council of Jewish Women 

National Domestic Workers Alliance 

National Education Association 

National Immigration Law Center 

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights National Partnership for New Americans 

Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice 

New American Leaders 

New American Leaders Action Fund 

Next100 

OCAAsian Pacific Advocates of Greater Seattle 

OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates 

People’s Action 

Poder Latinx 

Presente.org 

Prevention Institute 

RAICES 

Raj Khalsa Gurdwara, Sikh Temple 

Save the Children 

Save the Children Action Network 

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team 

The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy and Innovation The Workers Circle 

UnidosUS 

Union for Reform Judaism 

Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice 

United Church of Christ Justice and Local Church Ministries United We Dream 

USC 

Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights 

State and Local Organizations 

ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE 

ACLU People Power Fairfax 

Advancing Latinas into Leadership 

Ahri Center 

AIDS Foundation Chicago 

Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education AMANI WOMEN CENTER 

American River College 

APLA Health 

Asian American Advocacy Fund 

Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Southern California Asian Americans United 

Asian and Pacific American Network of Oregon 

Asian Health Services 

Asian Services in Action (ASIA) 

Asociación Dominicana de Carolina del norte 

Avanzamos Unidos 

Breakthrough Central Texas 

Broward for Progress 

Buen Vecino 

Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC, Inc. 

California Association of Food Banks 

California Primary Care Association 

California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLA Foundation) California WIC Association 

CARECEN 

Casa de la Cultura

Casa San Jose 

CDF Action, Inc. 

Center for Immigrant Progress 

Central American Resource Center – CARECEN- of California Central American Resource Center of Northern CA – CARECEN SF Change Begins With ME (Indivisible) 

Chinese Progressive Association 

CIPC 

Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), ISA Coalición de Líderes Latinos-CLILA 

Coalition on Homelessness 

Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy & Research Organization CLLARO Community Action Marin 

Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County 

Community Legal Advocates of NY 

Community of Reconciliation 

Comunidades Sin Fronteras CSF-CT INC 

Comunidades Unidas – UT 

Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible 

COOLJC Region 8 SJEREC 

Corners Outreach 

Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House, Washington DC 

Dorothy Day House, Washington DC 

DRUM – Desis Rising Up & Moving 

Dsi International Inc 

El Centro del Inmigrante 

El Pueblo 

El Vínculo Hispano/ The Hispanic Liaison 

Employee Rights Center (ERC) 

Ethnē Health 

Feeding New York State 

First Lutheran 

Florida Health Justice Project 

Florida Immigrant Coalition 

Food for People 

GALEO Impact Fund, Inc. 

GALEO Latino Community Development Fund 

GLIDE 

Global Wordsmiths 

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

GRACE/End Child Poverty California 

Green Party of Allegheny County 

HANA Center 

HIAS Pennsylvania 

Hispanic Unity of Florida 

Honest Arizona 

Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative 

Hunger Action Los Angeles Inc 

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights 

Inspiritus, Inc. 

Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center 

Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America (IFCLA) 

Interfaith Welcome Coalition – San Antonio 

International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Atlanta, Miami & Tallahassee Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice of Western Mass Jewish Community Relations Council or Greater Washington Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles 

Jewish Family Service of San Diego 

Justice at Work (Pennsylvania) 

Justice for All Immigrants 

Justicia y Esperanza 

La Clínica de La Raza 

La Fuerza NC 

Larkin Street Youth Services 

Latin American Association 

Latino Action Network Foundation 

Latino Community Fund INC (LCF Georgia) 

LatinoNet 

Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County 

Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition 

Long Island Immigration Clinic 

Long Island Immigration Clinic/Sisters of St. Joseph 

Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition 

Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition Maternal and Child Health Access 

Miami Valley Immigration Coalition 

Miami Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 

Michigan Dreamers 

Mixteca Organization Inc. 

Motivation Motivates

Nebraska Appleseed 

New American Pathways 

New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) New York Immigration Coalition 

North Carolina Justice Center 

Northeast Valley Health Corporation 

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project 

Nourish California 

OCAAsian Pacific Islander American Advocates Utah OCA Greater Chicago 

OCA Greater Cleveland – Asian Pacific American Advocates OCA-APAAdvocates, Greater Washington DC Chapter OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates Greater Houston Chapter One Region – Metro Atlanta 

OneAmerica 

OPAWL – Building AAPI Feminist Leadership 

Oregon Food Bank 

Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition – PICC PIIN, Community of Reconciliation 

Pjals 

Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada 

Progressive Peace Coalition 

Refuge Coffee Co. 

Refugee Women’s Network 

Re’Generation Movement 

Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network 

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley 

SEPA MUJER INC. 

Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) South Bay People Power 

Student Action with Farmworkers 

SURJ Marin – Showing up for Racial Justice 

The Association of Mexicans in North Carolina INC. (AMEXCAN) The Business & Immigration for Georgia (BIG) Partnership The Gubbio Project 

The Women’s Building 

Together Colorado 

UC Immigrant Legal Services Center 

University of California Student Association 

UU Justice Ohio

Venice Family Clinic 

Violence Intervention Program 

Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations Virginia Latino Leaders Council 

Voices for Utah Children 

Westchester Jewish Coalition for Immigration Western Center on Law and Poverty William E. Morris Institute for Justice Young Latino Network

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