Immigration and the economy

[stpioc]

The lingering uncertainty around DACA's future under the Trump administration has roiled the immigrant community for months, and left DACA recipients panicked and unsure of what steps to take in the meantime. "They're in panic mode," said Reaz Jafri, an immigration attorney at the law firm Withers Bergman, whose clients include DACA recipients and their employers. "DACA invited people who were in the shadows to come forth, get biometrics taken, get put in the system, get a social security number, get a job, take out a loan, open a bank account, get a credit card," Jafri told Business Insider. "They're wondering, 'Now that I'm no longer protected, can ICE now come and find me? Because ICE now knows where I live, where I work.' 

A recent study by the left-leaning Center for American Progress (CAP) and the lobbying group FWD.us found that if DACA were repealed, roughly 700,000 workers would lose their jobs over the next two years, and the estimated loss of their labor could cost the country $460.3 billion in economic output over the next decade. 

"Ending DACA would place severe economic strain on businesses around the country, putting them into the impossible and extremely costly position of having to fire productive employees for no other reason than an arbitrary change in federal policy, potentially resulting in backlash from other employees or their broader community," the report said.

What is DACA? 'Dreamers' are in 'panic mode' awaiting official announcement on Obama-era immigrant program - Business Insider