WASHINGTON, DC – FWD.us today is proud to announce we are partnering with United We Dream, and other advocacy organizations in committing resources to the DACA Renewal Fund, an urgent effort to support DACA recipients renewal application fees. The Trump Administration’s decision to terminate DACA in 6 months has forced more than 150,000 immigrant youth whose DACA status expires between now and March 5th of 2018 to file to renew their DACA status before October 5th, 2017 deadline. This process is urgent, complicated, and expensive – applicants must submit $495 fee along with their renewal applications. For many DACA recipients who are students or low wage workers who often spend months saving up to pay for these fees, that is an extraordinary and unexpected expense.
“We’re proud to support the DACA Renewal Fund, which will support young people who need to quickly file their renewals by October 5th with resources to help cover the costs of the application,” said FWD.us President Todd Schulte. “While we continue our work to urge Congress in the strongest possible terms to pass bipartisan legislation that will protect Dreamers from deportation, we are excited to be part of this effort, and we encourage others to join us to stand up for Dreamers who are contributing to our communities and our economy every day.”
The DACA Renewal Fund enjoys support from advocacy organizations across the country that are committed to fighting for nearly 800,000 DACA recipients, who live in every state and the District of Columbia. These hardworking Dreamers, most of whom know only the U.S. as home and who came to the country at a young age, already live, work, study in, and contribute immeasurably to our communities. In addition to the staggering moral cost of deporting Dreamers, removing nearly 800,000 individuals from the workforce would cost the U.S. economy more than $460 billion in lost GDP over a decade. We continue to urge Congress to immediately pass the bipartisan Dream Act that would allow Dreamers to continue to live, work and contribute to the only country most have ever known.
