This lameduck session congress is in a unique position to pass a protection for Dreamers or we will see nearly 700,000 young people across the country face deportation. We need our leaders to stand up for our community members.

In 2012, after Republican opposition stalled Congress’s push for meaningful immigration reform, the Obama Administration sought to do what was within its authority to address the status undocumented children who arrived in the United States before the age of 16. To qualify for DACA, applicants were required to have arrived before the age of 16, could not be older than 30 when the program was introduced, and have no criminal records. If accepted, after passing a background check, DACA recipients gained renewable two-year permits to work and study. Additionally, DACA granted prosecutorial discretion to various immigration authorities, but did not provide a pathway to legal status.

To be clear, this type of action by the Executive Branch is not without precedent. Similar, more aggressive, executive action was taken in 1987, during the Reagan Administration when the president used his authority to legalize the status of minor children of parents granted amnesty and announced a blanket deferral of deportation for children under 18.

Today, 70% of voters believe a pathway to citizenship should be available to persons who have arrived in the United States as children and had no culpability in their unauthorized immigration. Sometimes it seems as though those who stand in the way of common-sense reforms like this have forgotten the contribution that generations of immigrants have made to the United States. In search of the freedom and opportunity to work hard and build a new life, immigrants have come to this country and in the process have contributed incalculably to the rich fabric of our nation.

We need Dreamers to stay here in this country. They are our friends and co-workers: coaches of our kids’ soccer teams, worship leaders in our churches, and small business owners in our communities. Our communities and our economy won’t be able to handle the impact of losing nearly 700,000 Dreamers. Already, our country is struggling with labor shortages – just this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that high inflation is due in part to “the imbalances in the labor market.” Losing over half a million Dreamers will only make those problems worse.

While members of Congress and immigration reform advocates across the nation continue to push for sensible policy provisions to improve this broken system, Dreamers and their families wait anxiously. In NH, we’re lucky that our federal delegation has been on the right side of this issue. I have faith that our senators will continue to search for a common-ground approach that will gain bi-partisan support. Hundreds of thousands of Dreamers are depending on it.

Manny Espitia is a former State Representative and president of the New Hampshire Young Dems.

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