the U.S. president and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients discussed the need for immigration reform.
Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
Last Friday, U.S. President Joseph Biden met with six "dreamers" at the White House, all of whom work in health care, education, and agriculture, to discuss their experiences on the front lines of the battle against the HIV/AIDS-19 pandemic.
At the same time, the U.S. president and the beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), discussed the need for immigration reform, in addition to the young people expressed their fears about the possibility that their future could change by the decision of a Texas court if Congress does not act.
During the meeting, Biden reiterated his support for "dreamers," as DACA recipients, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, farm workers and other essential immigrant workers are known.
In that regard, Biden stressed that there is strong White House support for the Dreams and Promises Act and the Agricultural Workforce Modernization Act, two bills that have already passed the House with bipartisan support and are awaiting action in the Senate.
It should be noted that since 2012, DACA has protected many young undocumented immigrants from deportation, and in 2017 Donald Trump's administration announced plans to end the program, plunging thousands of "dreamers" into uncertainty.
As of December 2019, there were 649,070 active DACA recipients in the United States, according to government statistics. Of those, 81 percent were born in Mexico, and the rest from more than 190 countries around the world.
According to reports, the largest number of DACA beneficiaries live in California, as there are 184,880 recipients of the program living there, followed by Texas where 107,020 beneficiaries are known to live. Between the two states alone, they account for 45 percent of the program's participants.
An estimated 29,000 "dreamers" are health care workers, and they have been on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19, so it's only fair for Democratic supporters to give them legal immigration status.
According to the latest available data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the average age of DACA recipients is 26, however, to be eligible for the program, applicants must have arrived in this country before the age of 16 and have lived in the U.S. since June 15, 2007.
