This past week, reports were indicating that the Trump Administration would soon repeal DACA, ending protection for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants in the United States (who are otherwise known as Dreamers) Today, President Trump has finally acted, publicly announcing plans to “wind down” and end DACA, giving Congress six months to come up with a legislative option to save the program before the government stops renewing DACA permits.
With this so, Microsoft is now calling on the United States Congress to “reprioritize” and pass legislation to protect those individuals who are currently enrolled in the DACA program.
The issue with DACA was once again addressed in a post to the Microsoft On The Issues Blog, where Microsoft President Brad Smith expressed that he was “deeply disappointed” in the administration’s decision to rescind protection under the DACA Program. In the post, Smith, and Microsoft, call on Congress to reprioritize their Fall calendar, so that new legislation can come up quickly to protect 800,000 Dreamers.
We believe this means that Congress now needs to reprioritize the fall legislative calendar and move quickly with new legislation to protect these 800,000 Dreamers. This means that Congress should adopt legislation on DACA before it tries to adopt a tax reform bill. This is the only way, given the number of legislative days Congress has scheduled over the next six months, we realistically can expect Congress to complete DACA legislation in time.
Though Smith calls for a reprioritization of the legalization calendar, he points out that the government needs to put humanitarian needs first before a tax bill. The Microsoft President writes that Dreamers add to the competitiveness and economic success as at Microsoft, as well as the businesses community in the US.
We need to remember that these 800,000 individuals came to our nation as children. They grew up in this country. They attended our local schools and count millions of American citizens as friends. They obey our laws, pay taxes here and have registered voluntarily with the federal government for DACA relief. They are loyal to this country and contribute their time and money to local churches, schools and community groups.
Since Congress might not act within the six months to replace DACA or come up with the required legislation, Smith is careful to point out a second point in his post. He mentions that the failure of Congress to pass the legislation will “not relieve anyone else in the country of the responsibility to act thoughtfully and wisely.’
That’s why we believe a second point is also fundamental. Although we should all ask Congress to act within six months, we should be prepared for the possibility that it will not do so.
With that so, Smith clearly addresses the fact that Microsoft will work “as needed” with other companies and those in the business community to defend the legal rights of all Dreamers, and the 39 Dreamers who are employed at Microsoft. The company is standing by its employees and will even provide a legal console, an amicus brief, and will do as much as possible to stand by the side of any Microsoft Dreamers who may end up in court.
