For 11 years, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has allowed me to legally work, study and contribute to the Peach State, my home. After coming to the U.S. with my parents from Mexico as an infant, Georgia is all I’ve known. It’s where I attended high school, went to Dalton State College, and started a family.
While we celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month this June, I’m reflecting on my heritage, the life I’ve built in the U.S. and the stories and history of those around me.
June 15 also marked 11 years since DACA was created, offering a moment of celebration but also a pause for reflection and action as congressional inaction to provide Dreamers with a permanent solution continues more than a decade later.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
Intended as a short-term solution to give Congress time to enact legislation, DACA has since become a lifeline for me and the approximately 20,000 DACA recipients in Georgia and hundreds of thousands more nationwide. Dreamers contribute billions to Georgia’s economy yearly and hundreds of millions in taxes. I’ve chosen to build a career advocating for immigrants and bipartisan reform under the Gold Dome and among our federal representatives from Georgia. Many other Dreamers have developed careers in the medical, education, agriculture, legal fields and many others.
Today, however, Dreamers only represent one piece of Georgia’s larger immigrant puzzle. Georgia is home to about 1.1 million immigrants – or 1 in 10 Georgians. As our workforce and businesses feel the pinch of labor shortages and rising inflation, we must encourage these contributions, not harm them. A George Mason University and FWD.us report found recently that increasing immigration can strengthen the economy, help reduce inflation and benefit us all. According to the findings, raising immigration levels now will help provide for current and future labor needs and expand the economy. In fact, increasing immigration levels by 50% will lead to an increase of some 40% in GDP per person by 2040, the report finds.
However, as U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen continues to mull over DACA’s future, including the lives of the people the program protects and those who rely on them, Congress must protect Dreamers and enact bipartisan, commonsense solutions. Additionally, DACA recipients should continue to renew their status and utilize opportunities like Advance Parole that can be used to travel outside the country. As litigation is expected to play out – and continue to limit or terminate the program – DACA recipients like me continue to face an uncertain future.
As a DACA recipient, I want to be here for my family’s next milestone, work hard and contribute to my job and Georgia’s economy every day. Still, without DACA, I could be under threat of deportation.
President Joe Biden said in his Immigrant Heritage Month proclamation, “Immigration has always been essential to America, and this month, we reflect on the strength and spirit of immigrants that have been passed down through families and infused in our Nation… It is a pride that speaks to the history and the values that bind us: immigrant values of hard work, dignity, and respect…”
This June, as we celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month and the DACA anniversary, I encourage you to honor and celebrate the immigrants that keep Georgia strong by not giving up on policies that will make families and Georgia stronger and more resilient. Georgia immigrants want to continue working hard and being treated with dignity and respect – Congress should make this a reality.
Jaime Rangel is regional director for immigration reform advocacy group, FWD.us.
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