Donald Trump"s administration has been cracking down on immigration ever since he took office in January this year. Now, the US government might be considering a ban on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which allows illegal immigrants who entered the country as minors a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit. Microsoft"s Brad Smith and Satya Nadella, in separate blog posts, criticized the move with Smith calling it " a step backward for our entire nation".
Brad called it a disruptive move that will not only impact 800,000 "DREAMers" registered with the program but, also affect American economy negatively, saying:
Ending DACA will drastically disrupt the lives of these individuals who willingly came forward to register with the federal government. They could lose their jobs and risk deportation. This repeal will also have significant economic consequences. Studies estimate that ending the program could cost the American economy $460.3 billion in GDP (gross domestic product) and $24.6 billion in Social Security and Medicare tax contributions over the course of a decade.
While Nadella, citing his personal experience, called standing up for DACA and DREAMers "the core to who we are at Microsoft and I believe it is core to what America is". An immigrant himself, Satya conceded that employing Americans, and creating more jobs should be a priority and called for smarter immigration to drive economic growth and global competitiveness. However, he also recounted direct contributions of people from around the world at Microsoft and vowed to stand behind DREAMers.
Smith also called for policymakers to better enact the DREAM Act or come up with a permanent solution for immigrants benefitting from this cause, instead of banning DACA.