New York, NY – The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) urges Congress and the President to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. President Trump has indicated that the Administration may terminate the program in the coming days, placing nearly 800,000 people at risk of deportation and separation from their families.

Since 2012, the DACA program has enabled eligible young people who came to this country as children to voluntarily come forward and pass background checks in exchange for permission to live and work in America without fear of deportation. Ending this protection is inhumane, separating families and would costing our national economy $460 billion over the next decade.

The Jewish community has a long history of active engagement in the struggles of new immigrants and in development of our nation’s immigration policy. JCPA strongly supports DACA and opposes any efforts to defund or terminate this important program.

Furthermore, we call on lawmakers to act immediately to protect immigrant youth by passing the “Dream Act of 2017,” bipartisan legislation that would replace fear and uncertainty with permanent protection. We are concerned that public frustration with the current failed immigration system is fueling racist and xenophobic views that blame immigrants for our nation’s problems. We cannot allow our immigration laws to become a tool for hate.