Bipartisan backing for the bill, which would protect immigrant youth like us and aid the economy, extends from Fortune 500 companies to faith leaders

Since Donald Trump killed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) program on 5 September, we’ve been on Capitol Hill every day and across the country advocating for the Dream Act and telling our stories to the American public and Congress.

The bill is popular among immigration rights advocates, Fortune 500 companies, faith leaders, and even Republicans in Congress, but for those in the GOP still wondering why they should support the Dream Act, we’ve got some answers:

1. It’s a popular, bipartisan bill

In June, the Dream Act of 2017 was introduced by four senators: two Republicans and two Democrats. Just last week, 34 Republican members in the House of Representatives wrote a letter to the House speaker, Paul Ryan, urging him to pass a permanent legislation solution before the holidays. The Dream Act provides immigrant youth who are either undocumented or have Daca and who graduate from US high schools with a pathway to citizenship if they attend college, enter the workforce, or enlist in the military. A bill with such strong support from both parties is hard to come by these days, but the Dream Act has that support.

In a recent Fox News poll, 79% of Americans favored granting US citizenship to immigrant youth, with 63% of Trump voters backing citizenship. With the majority of the American people behind immigrant young people, Republicans can work with Democrats to pass a bill that would receive praise from both sides of the aisle.

2. The bill would offer significant economic gains for the US

The Dream Act would provide significant economic gains, just as Daca did. Providing eligible workers a pathway to legal status would add $22.7bn to the US GDP per year, for a total of $281bn after 10 years, according to the left-leaning Center for American Progress (CAP).

Yet Daca was always more than the ability to work: it was the opportunity to put to use the higher education many have worked so hard to achieve. Without Daca protections, most universities were off-limits to undocumented people because we would be charged steep out-of-state or foreign tuitions while also being ineligible for financial aid (people with Daca still don’t qualify for federal financial aid). Daca, and efforts by individual schools and states, has been our chance at our American dream; one where we can make a living doing what we love. More than two-thirds of people with Daca reported moving to a job with better pay and more than half moved to a job that better fits their education and training.

3. It would mean immigrant youth aren’t deported from their homes

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Without Daca, immigrant youth like us are at risk of detention and deportation. Since Daca was rescinded, 122 immigrant young people lose their protections every day – that’s a total of 11,669 who live every day in fear of being deported from the only country we know as home. It’s pretty simple: a delay on the Dream Act means deportation for immigrant youth.

Daca recipients and undocumented youth are your family members, your friends, your co-workers, and your employees. The Dream Act would ensure that we are not broken up from our families and that we can continue to more fully contribute to our communities and our nation.

Congress, we’re asking you to do your job so we can keep living our lives: don’t go home for the holidays without passing the Dream Act.

Diana Pliego, policy associate, National Immigration Law Center

Bruna Bouhid, national communications manager, United We Dream

Jonathan Jayes-Green, national coordinator, UndocuBlack Network