Since its inception, the Niskanen Center has advocated for permanent legal status for Dreamers and DACA recipients who came to the US decades ago as children. Today, Dreamers are professionals, parents, homeowners, and important members of their communities, yet their future is more precarious than ever. The potential expulsion of this population would have devastating and lasting economic, financial, familial, and societal repercussions.

The vast majority of Americans — regardless of political affiliation — support permanently protecting Dreamers from deportation. As hundreds of thousands of Dreamers wait for the courts to decide their fate, Congress continues to eagerly side-step their responsibility to pass a legislative solution. Niskanen urges lawmakers to hash out the details of a compromise solution before it’s too late.

DACA reform

Downloadable DACA Recipients Infographics

To read more about the demographics and contributions of Dreamers and to learn more about Niskanen’s prior work in this space, please see the DACA and immigration policy reform resources outlined below.

DACA & Immigration Policy Reform Resources

Who are DACA recipients?

Economic contributions of DACA recipients and the high cost of their removal:

  • DACA recipients contribute nearly $42 billion to the U.S. GDP every year, averaging over $109,000 per worker. 
  • DACA recipient households hold $25.3 billion in spending power after taxes. 
  • DACA recipients are responsible for $272 billion in mortgage and rental payments every month. 
  • Deporting DACA recipients would cost American taxpayers between 7 and 21 billion dollars in removal costs, depending on the methods utilized.
  • It would cost U.S. employers another $6.3 billion in employee turnover costs and would represent the loss of nearly $40 billion in Social Security and Medicare contributions over the next 10 years.
  • Removing DACA recipients would mean the loss of $3.3 billion in annual mortgage and rental payments. 
  • The deportation of DACA parents would harm U.S. citizen children. Removing a parent from a child’s home is associated with:

If placed in foster care, these children could cost federal and state governments between 5 and 14 billion dollars every year. 


Stay up to date with our work on DACA and other immigration issues

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