Immigrants: Deportation and disease are twin threats

Almost 800,000 young people in our country face a grave threat to their lives in addition to COVID-19. The Supreme Court is about to rule on the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program.

DACA recipients are at risk of deportation if the court ends the program. They face being forced to leave this country they call home – the place where they’ve grown up, attended school, pursue higher education, work (including almost 30,000 in health care), have families and pay taxes.

More than 16,300 DACA young people live in Washington and contribute over $270 million per year in taxes.

Now more than ever, this virus has shown us that, regardless of our origins, we are dependent on each other. Many professionals, including community psychologists, have recently illustrated how the broader community suffers negative consequences when someone is deported.

No matter where we come from, we all need to come together and demand fair treatment for DACA recipients. You can sign a petition at https://unitedwedream.org/renewdaca, requesting the Trump administration to automatically renew DACA permits expiring in 2020 and stop attacks at the Supreme Court.

This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Immigrants: Deportation and disease are twin threats."