Tech Companies To Lobby For Immigrant 'Dreamers' To Remain In US (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Nearly two dozen major companies in technology and other industries are planning to launch a coalition to demand legislation that would allow young, illegal immigrants a path to permanent residency, according to documents seen by Reuters. The Coalition for the American Dream intends to ask Congress to pass bipartisan legislation this year that would allow these immigrants, often referred to as "Dreamers," to continue working in the United States, the documents said. Alphabet Inc's Google, Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc, Intel Corp, Uber Technologies Inc, IBM Corp, Marriott International Inc and other top U.S. companies are listed as members, one of the documents shows. The push for this legislation comes after President Donald Trump's September decision to allow the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to expire in March. That program, established by former President Barack Obama in 2012, allows approximately 900,000 illegal immigrants to obtain work permits. Some 800 companies signed a letter to Congressional leaders after Trump's decision, calling for legislation protecting Dreamers. That effort was spearheaded by a pro-immigration reform group Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg co-founded in 2013 called FWD.us.

Comments

Re:Illegals are illegal

[hey!]

Dreamers are by that logic not illegals, because as children they bore no legal responsibility for their parents' actions. That's why most people choose to treat them as a separate category from their undocumented parents.

But I am interested in your logic as it applies to their parents. Does it apply only to immigrants, or is anybody who breaks the law an "illegal"? For example is a burglar or a rapist an "illegal"? Well then how about people who don't always obey the speed limit? Or fail to report income from stuff they sell on eBay?

But wait, minor tax evasion and speeding don't count because everyone does them; in fact some of that is expected.

*** me waiting to see how many people detect the irony here ***

A reasonable case could be made that illegal immigrants are actually less serious criminals than people who habitually speed or cheat on their taxes, but you have to make that argument based on the consequences of their actions, not how you feel about Mexicans.

We have an economy that cannot function without more immigrant labor than our immigration laws allow. In the agricultural sector alone, the number of undocumented workers needed to bring in harvests is over three times the legal limit for total immigration to the US. Does that make any sense? If you could wave a magic wand and deport them all, one of the first effects the average American would feel is a dramatic increase in food prices.

This situation is the fault of the Democrats -- from the 50s and 60s. Back then it was the Democratic rank and file that were xenophobic nativists, but Democratic politicians as well as Republicans understood the need for immigration. So they passed tough restrictions and proceeded to turn a blind eye toward violations -- much like cops turn a blind eye to people going 65 in a 55 mph zone.