The Trump Administration's move Tuesday (July 28) limiting the DACA immigration program after the Supreme Court upholding it has drawn criticism from the tech industry.
The Administration is reviewing the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, but in the meantime it is freezing applications for the program.
DACA is the Obama-era program that protects from deportation undocumented young people who immigrated to the U.S. as children. Tech companies argue that DACA "dreamers" are often highly skilled workers in tech and innovation industries.
"Immigrants and children of immigrants play a key role in founding and leading innovative, fast-growing companies including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Intel," Consumer Technology Association President Gary Shapiro said following the Supreme Court decision to allow DACA to continue.
"The Administration has gone from placing DACA applicants 'into A bucket' to throwing them away," said TechNet.
“In June, DACA recipients and applicants breathed a sigh of relief when the Supreme Court struck down the administration’s attempt to arbitrarily end the program," said TechNet President Linda Moore. "Just last week, the Justice Department stated in open court that they are defying the Court's decision by holding new applications and placing them 'into a bucket.’ Now, the administration is thumbing its nose at our courts further by refusing new applications and slashing DACA recipients’ renewal period by half, from two years to one."
“Today’s guidance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security creates more uncertainty and hardship for our nation’s DACA recipients, limiting their ability to contribute important talents and innovative spirit to the U.S. economy," said tech association ITI President Jason Oxman. "Rather than advancing efforts to eliminate or weaken the DACA program, we urge the Trump Administration to advance a permanent legislative solution that would ensure these Americans’ legal status once and for all.”
