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Aaron P. Bernstein | Reuters
Protestors gather outside the Trump International Hotel to protest President Donald Trump’s plan to repeal DACA in Washington, U.S., September 5, 2017.
In New York, 5 percent of the state’s population consists of undocumented immigrants, Metselaar says in a Crain’s op-ed. That amounts to over 45,000 employees who will be removed from the workforce. In total, they earn over $18.3 billion annually and pay $1 billion in state and local taxes and $1.6 billion in federal taxes, he says. This leaves $15.8 billion in remaining spending power.
Ending DACA “will have a ripple effect on the economy,” Metselaar tells CNBC Make It. “It will put a chill on people coming in from other countries. We will lose opportunities, which is tragic from a business perspective.”
He points to Sergey Brin, the Russian-born co-founder of Apple. “Can you imagine if someone like him was not allowed to enter the country?” says Metselaar. “This is the antithesis to job creation. Immigrants are not taking jobs. They are the entrepreneurs.”
The White House’s decision has been met with sharp criticism from a number of CEOs, including Apple’s Tim Cook and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.
Metselaar says that the announcement has been discouraging for people like him who manage global businesses and for those who benefit from DACA.
“The company stands to lose a stellar employee. Now magnify that by 800,000,” he says. Metselaar adds that business leaders must lobby Congress to either preserve the DACA program or pass bipartisan immigration reform. In the meantime, he says: “We will do everything within the boundaries of the law to support and protect [Eren].”
Eren says that she felt “devastated,” when she heard that DACA was ending. Yet she remains optimistic that Congress will implement a plan that will allow her to stay in the country.
“I’m still very hopeful that [dreamers] will get to stay in the only country we have ever called home and contribute to our communities,” she says. “I have aspirations and goals. I won’t let this announcement stop me from achieving them.”
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See also:
A ‘dreamer’ opens up about life under Trump
Why these 8 CEOs are standing up for ‘dreamers’
These 5 tech CEOs are not happy with Donald Trump’s travel ban
