More than 60 companies and trade organizations are launching a campaign to support protections for Dreamers.
The companies announced a digital ad campaign on Thursday and said they would push for “bipartisan legislation that gives Dreamers a permanent solution this year.”
The Coalition for the American Dream comprises some of the biggest names in business: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, General Motors, Google, Hewlett Packard, IBM and Microsoft, among dozens of others.
The Trump administration announced in September that it would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also called DACA.
The Obama-era policy allows young adults who arrived in the United States as children to apply to defer deportation and legally reside in the country for two years. After that, they could apply for renewal.
Others in the campaign announced Thursday include the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the National Retail Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“If Congress fails to act, our economy could lose $215 billion from the national GDP and $24.6 billion in Social Security and Medicare tax contributions,” the companies wrote in an ad published in Politico on Thursday. “They are part of why we will continue to have a global competitive advantage.”
DACA allows its roughly 690,000 recipients — the Dreamers — to obtain valid driver’s licenses, enroll in college and legally secure jobs. They also pay income taxes.
The administration set a six-month deadline for Congress to preserve its protections before recipients start losing their status and face deportation.
Many of the companies and organizations that signed on to the new campaign have previously come out in support of DACA. Hundreds of business leaders signed a letter last month defending the program.
–CNNMoney’s Seth Fiegerman and CNN’s Tal Kopan contributed to this story.
