It would be heartless and devastating to our youth and our country if President Trump were to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which since 2012 has provided some 800,000 young adults who were brought to this country as children with opportunities to live, learn, work and contribute to their communities and the economy. They contribute tremendously to our country’s strength and vitality.  
 
Ending DACA and taking away the ability of these young people to legally work and pursue their education would be cruel, hurt our economy and communities, and would signal that President Trump is siding once again with the white supremacists inside and outside his administration. It would also be further evidence that he is out of step with the 78 percent of voters who support a path to legal status for these young DREAMers.
 
Rescinding DACA would be nothing short of disastrous to our economy. Removing so many young people from the workforce would reduce the country’s GDP, saddle employers with billions of dollars in unnecessary turnover costs, and significantly reduce contributions to Medicare and Social Security.
 
America’s mothers do not want to build walls and tear families apart. Moms know that young people flourish when they have hope and opportunity.  Instead of ending DACA, President Trump should protect family unity and end the human rights abuses that are occurring in the name of immigration law enforcement. And he should support U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who recently introduced the bipartisan DREAM Act of 2017 – urgently needed legislation that would provide a path to legal status for these young people who were brought to the United States as children.