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Repealing DACA Could Cost U.S. $460 billion in Economic Output

As Congress debates proposals to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), the top Democrat on the House Small Business Committee, today released a comprehensive report highlighting the central role DACA recipients play in shaping America’s small businesses and contributing to economic activity. The report notes that taking away legal protections for Dreamers could cost the United States over $460 billion in economic output over a decade. 

“Ending DACA will be harmful both for the economy and many young immigrants brought to the United States as children, many of whom have never known their country of origin,” wrote Velázquez. “The American economy will lose a talented, pivotal, entrepreneurial labor source and over 800,000 young immigrants will have their educational and employment prospects destroyed. At the same time, ending DACA hurts the wages and labor standards of all American workers and has a ripple effect on a wide variety of industries on which the national economy relies.”

The report provides critical insights into the ways in which Dreamers have molded the American workforce.  The analysis notes Dreamers start small businesses at twice the rate of the general population. As invested taxpayers, DACA recipients or those eligible for the program contribute an estimated $2 billion per year in state and local taxes. By ending DACA, state and local revenues would be gutted by nearly $800 million per year. With the vast majority employed or enrolled in school, Dreamers are investing in their futures by buying homes, and the DACA-eligible population has a spending power of at least $100 million.

The report breaks down the contributions of Dreamers by five categories:

• Macroeconomic contributions
• Tax contributions
• Consumer spending power
• Entrepreneurship
• Small business workforce.

“The untimely and haphazard decision by the President to end DACA leads to very real consequences and costs for the country,” said Velázquez. “When the President decided to abandon Dreamers, he was not just making a morally reprehensible decision driven by politics of division and fear; he was also inflicting lasting damage to the American economy. Congress must come together immediately and pass a comprehensive, bipartisan solution to protect Dreamers.”

A PDF of the report is available online, here.

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