Calling the end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program an “impending crisis for workforces across the country,” more than 115 CEOs and business leaders across industries signed on to a letter calling for Congress to pass a legislative solution by January 19. Congressional action is the only real path forward.
Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Chip Bergh joined a broad coalition of leaders from companies like Lyft, Google, Gap Inc., The Coca-Cola Company and Amazon in an open letter to Congressional leadership published today in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The letter points out that the majority of Americans across the political spectrum support protections for Dreamers, and says the end of DACA “will lead to businesses losing valuable talent, cause disruptions in the workforce, and will result in significant costs.”
The January 19 deadline would leave government officials with a 45-day window to implement the new regulations before the current program expires on March 5.
Currently, nearly 800,000 young people who were brought to the U.S. without documents as children are able to live and work in this country under DACA. If no solution is reached, their two-year permits will begin to expire, leaving them with no legal protections.
“Hundreds of thousands of deserving young people across the country are counting on you to work in a bipartisan way to pass permanent legislative protection for Dreamers without further delay,” the letter concludes.
LS&Co. has been calling for the passage of the DREAM Act (legislative protections that don’t contain provisions that harm other segments of the immigrant community) since the White House announced last year that it was ending DACA.
Through the Levi Strauss Foundation, we are also giving grant support to two organizations – Define American and United We Dream – that are on the front lines of efforts to protect Dreamers.
In October, we joined the Coalition for the American Dream, an alliance of businesses and industry leaders pushing for protections for Dreamers.
We must protect Dreamers and their aspirations to seize the opportunities America affords, and invest their talent back into our economy. It will make us all stronger. We urge Congress to find a permanent solution that will let Dreamers continue to work, study and live in the United States.
Read the full letter online, coalitionfortheamericandream.us.
