DACA Facts: The Case for Protecting Dreamers

DACA Facts: DACA Recipients Live in and Contribute to Nearly Every Community Across the Country

All DACA recipients have lived in the United States for at least a decade, and many for much longer. The average Dreamer came to the United States at the age of seven and is now 25 years old. They were educated in American elementary, middle, and high schools, and many have earned degrees from U.S. universities. Dreamers are Americans in virtually every single way, except on paper.

Dreamers are deeply integrated in nearly every community across the United States. They work as nurses, teachers, and engineers; they go to our schools, teach our children, play on our kids’ sports teams, and worship alongside us in our churches.

Nearly 700,000 young people in the U.S. have applied and currently hold DACA. Across the country, more than 1.5 million people live with a DACA recipient. 

DACA recipients contribute more than $42 billion to the annual GDP in the U.S.

These hardworking young people came forward and volunteered their personal information to the government in good faith, but that very same information could now be used to target them for deportation if Congress fails to take action.

Dreamers Own Homes, Start Businesses That Employ Americans, and Pay Billions of Dollars in Taxes Every Year

• Nearly $2 billion contributed by Dreamers to Social Security annually
• Nearly $470 million paid into Medicare by Dreamers every year
• Up to $1 trillion added to the U.S. GDP over a decade if permanent protections for Dreamers are passed
• 96% of Dreamers are either working or in school
• 6% of Dreamers have launched their own business
• 60% of Dreamers have purchased a vehicle.
• 14% of Dreamers have purchased their own home, and they pay an estimated $380 million in property taxes every year.

Hurting DACA Recipients Hurts Everyone

Dreamers have deep roots in their communities across the country; uprooting their lives hurts not only them, but millions of their loved ones, neighbors, and employers.

Dreamers are also the parents to hundreds of thousands of U.S.-born citizen children; Congress’ failure to pass a permanent legislative solution would be directly responsible for ripping apart thousands of American families.

Since DACA’s rescission in 2017, every year nearly 100,000 Dreamers graduate from high school without DACA or protection from deportation, harming their work prospects and limiting their access to higher education.

The U.S. will lose nearly $93 billion in federal tax revenue over a 10-year period if DACA recipients are unable to remain in the country.