COMMENTARY: Urging Trump to push comprehensive immigration reform

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump successfully tapped into voters' frustration about the country’s broken immigration system. While it is still unclear how the president-elect will resolve the issue, immigration opponents are pressing him to consider repealing the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy that enables many migrants to become productive economic players. Giving into these pleas to use executive fiat will further marginalize the important role of the legislative branch. Instead, Trump should utilize his deal-making skills to work with Congress on a more comprehensive immigration reform.

Enacted in 2012, DACA permits children of undocumented parents to work and study in the U.S. on a temporary basis. DACA also stayed the deportation of those who benefit from the DREAM Act, a law providing conditional residency for immigrants with no felony convictions or significant misdemeanors who are enrolled in school, graduated from high school, or are enlisted in the military.

With Trump’s election, DREAMers are afraid that the policy that offered them the opportunity to achieve their dreams in their new homeland could soon be overturned. Take the case of Diana Chacon, a DACA recipient originally from Lima, Peru, who is studying in college with hopes of attending law school. “DACA changed my life,” Chacon recalls. “It allowed me to be involved in school more, spend more time doing my class work assignments, spend more time applying for programs, and just get involved in my community in general.”

Chacon is just one of many hardworking migrants in the U.S. whom DACA has helped. DACA allows immigrants access to a number of critical institutions required to obtaining a job. DACA recipients can open a bank account and own a driver's license, putting them on the path to prosperity. DACA empowers immigrants to contribute to the economy and achieve the American dream.

In fact, one study by the Center for American Progress found that DACA recipients have started their own businesses at twice the rate of the general American population. This impressive track record applies to the younger generation who has benefitted from the program as well. The same study found that 46 percent of DACA recipients are currently in school. Of those, 83 percent are employed at the same time. DACA’s record has proven to be a win-win for both immigrants and the American people.

An executive repeal of DACA will do nothing to fix the larger, systemic problems of U.S. immigration policy. It will not secure the border, nor will it lead to a single criminal being deported. Rather, a repeal of DACA would only add to the immigration system’s confusion by questioning the legal status of millions who have studied, worked, or served in the U.S.

If Donald Trump wants to amend our immigration system, he should put his dealmaking skills to use rather than abuse executive power. The president-elect should, with Congress, pass comprehensive reform that strengthens border security while allowing hard-working, law-abiding immigrants to remain in the U.S. and to pursue a permanent status.

Natalie Bao Tram Le is a Young Voices Advocates from Charleston, South Carolina.