New Arizona coalition fights for immigration-system fixes
Recently, a group of Arizona business leaders, community leaders and immigration reform advocates launched the FWD.us Arizona Coalition in Phoenix. FWD.us is a bipartisan, national group working to mobilize the tech community and other leaders in business and civic engagement to promote immigration and economic policies that keep the U.S. competitive in an increasingly globalized world. Since we are on the front lines of the immigration debate, we are well-positioned to have a significant and positive impact on the vital issue of immigration reform.
The FWD.us Arizona Coalition is championing the cause of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients like 21-year-old Maria Gonzalez, who spoke at the coalition launch event. The DACA program was put in place in 2012 to allow young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to get temporary relief from potential deportation and be able to live, work and study openly here. In order to receive a two-year renewable work permit, all DACA participants must undergo a thorough background check (including fingerprinting), pay fees and be subject to strict residency and other requirements.
In Gonzalez’s case, she was brought to the U.S. as a toddler and knows no other country. Despite both her parents being detained by immigration officials during her senior year of high school — her father was actually deported — she was able to graduate and go on to attend South Mountain Community College while working to support herself. She hopes to transfer to Arizona State University and earn a bachelor’s degree in social work.
Like hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients across the country, Gonzalez faces significant insecurity about her legal status today in the face of aggressive immigration policies being pursued at the federal level. The FWD.us Arizona Coalition will fight for DACA recipients in our state, advocating for the government to find a legislative solution like the recently introduced DREAM Act, which Sen. Jeff Flake is co-sponsoring, or the Recognizing America’s Children Act for these individuals who came to the U.S. as children and want to continue contributing to our economy.
There is simply no morally defensible reason to deport these young people. The vast majority of the nearly 800,000 participants in the DACA program are gainfully employed or students. They are major contributors to the U.S. economy, both as workers and consumers. Forcibly removing hundreds of thousands of these “dreamers” would have a significantly negative impact on our national economy, with the potential to push gross domestic product down by as much as $400 billion over the next 10 years.
Ultimately, we believe the best way forward is comprehensive immigration reform that provides permanent legal status and a path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the shadows today. At the same time, we must modernize our entire immigration system to better fit the realities of the 21st century and to help make the U.S. as competitive as possible in the global marketplace. This can be done without sacrificing border security or the safety of our nation by requiring those seeking citizenship to demonstrate they can speak English, undergo a comprehensive background check and pay any taxes they owe.
Common-sense immigration reform will help end a dark period in American history, restore human dignity to all those living within our borders and help drive growth and job creation in the U.S. We look forward to working with our friends, neighbors and the Arizona business community, as well as elected officials and law enforcement at all levels to make a positive change on this vital issue for Arizona and the U.S.
Steven Zylstra is president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, which is a founding member of the FWD.us Arizona Coalition. Email him at szylstra@aztechcouncil.org; on Twitter, @szylstra.