Congress should take a cue from Arizona in support of 'Dreamers'
We are encouraged by the news that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., are negotiating bipartisan legislation that would grant a pathway to citizenship for our nation’s more than 2 million “Dreamers” – people brought to the U.S. as children without documentation – and will enact sensible border security.
We applaud her efforts and urge her to deliver this Christmas gift for our Arizona’s 37,000 “Dreamers,” which also would inject at least $800 million to our economy.
Arizonans are behind Sens. Sinema and Tillis: In November, a majority of voters in our state showed that they’ve evolved beyond the ugly anti-immigration sentiment of Arizona’s past when they voted to change the state Constitution by voting yes on Proposition 308 – allowing undocumented “Dreamer” students, most of whom have lived and gone to school in Arizona almost their whole lives, to pay the same in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities as documented students.
It was a ballot measure both introduced and passed with bipartisan support – and it showed that the majority of Arizonans understand that “Dreamers” have become woven into the fabric of the state’s future.
'Dreamers' contribute mightily to the economy
Proposition 308’s passage marked a 46% shift in Arizona voter attitudes in support of undocumented immigrants in just 16 years. And from a broad representation of the electorate, according to the final tracking poll by American Business Immigration Coalition: 83% of Arizona Democrats, 54% independents and nearly one-third of Republicans.
“Dreamers” have lived in a legal and emotional limbo for years now, their lives and futures up in the air while being used as a political football in D.C.
After the election:Dreamers' futures still uncertain, despite tuition win
And yet that limbo hasn’t stopped them from contributing mightily to the economy and growth of the state they love: DACA-eligible residents in Arizona already pay more than $131 million in federal, state and local taxes and hold roughly $479 million in spending power.
While politicians have held up their futures, they’ve been studying and training for the careers our booming state most needs – in education, health care, eldercare, tech and more.
It’s the same on the national level: One study showed that DACA recipients contribute nearly $42 billion annually to the U.S. economy, actually paying $3.4 billion more in taxes each year than they consume in benefits. It’s been calculated that canceling DACA would cost the economy $433 billion over the next 10 years.
Give us piece of mind after more than a decade
Once Congress finally opens a pathway for “Dreamers” to earn permanent legal status in the country they’ve almost always called home, they’ll be finally free to truly plan the rest of their lives – that includes charting the career paths that are going to carry this country into the future.
Better yet, they’ll finally have some peace of mind – finally feel like full residents of this great nation – after more than a decade of profound uncertainty and anxiety.
Sen. Sinema must know the majority of Arizonans and Americans want “Dreamers” to be full Americans and they want order to the border. In this crucial lame duck session, please deliver this Christmas gift to Arizona by passing legislation that will at once let “Dreamers” exhale and enact sensible border security.
John Graham is an Arizona Republican and chairman and CEO of Sunbelt Holdings. Hazel Villatoro is a “Dreamer,” a student at Grand Canyon University and a Yes on 308 fellow. Reach them at jgraham@sunbeltholdings.com and at villatoro.hazel1@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Congress should listen to Arizona, recognize 'Dreamers' as equals
