Attorney: Connecticut stands to lose $315 million if DACA is dismantled

Peg Sheahan says if DACA falls apart, it could cost Connecticut $315 million in lost tax revenue and spending at local retailers.

News 12 Staff

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Jul 23, 2020, 6:51 PM

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Updated 1,514 days ago

The state of Connecticut stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars if the government's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is ever dismantled, according to attorney Peg Sheahan.

The Obama administration implemented the DACA program in 2012, which allows undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as minors to legally stay to study or work.

President Donald Trump stopped the program, but the Supreme Court overturned his decision.

Since last month's ruling, Sheahan says officials are refusing to implement and restore the program, and first-time applicants are being rejected or ignored.

The DACA program gives people a two-year window from being deported, and it must be renewed every two years.

Sheahan says there are about 10,000 so-called "Dreamers" in Connecticut and 800,000 across the country that applied for the program.

"It’s very concerning because these people stepped out of the shadows,” says Sheahan. “If that status is removed from them, the feds know where they are."

Sheahan says if DACA falls apart, it could cost Connecticut $315 million in lost tax revenue and spending at local retailers.