The Maine State Chamber of Commerce is adding its voice to the chorus of criticism heard earlier this month when President Trump decided to rescind a program that allows young undocumented immigrants who grew up in the United States to go to college and work without the threat of deportation.
Chamber President Dana Connors will join business leaders at a news conference in Portland Wednesday to focus on the economic importance of protecting the ‘Dreamers,’ nearly 800,000 young students and workers who have applied for protection under the Obama-era program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. The business community leaders are joining forces with FWD.us, a pro-immigration advocacy group of tech and business leaders that was co-founded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
The groups say that Trump’s decision to end the program could lead to the removal of almost 800,000 workers from the U.S. workforce at a cost of $460 billion to the nation’s economic output over the next decade. Nearly 100 Maine residents have registered under the program since it was created by executive order in 2012, although some of them may have left the state or not renewed their participation as required every two years. There also are an unknown number of college students in Maine who are protected through DACA.
Trump’s decision would effectively end the program as of March 5. It was met with widespread criticism and Trump has since said he wants Congress to pass a law protecting the immigrants.
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