The NAM filed an amicus brief in the Fifth Circuit to support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) against efforts to end the program and remove 800,000 individuals from the American workforce. Established by the Obama administration in 2012, DACA allows undocumented immigrants who had been brought to this country as children to apply for protection from deportation and permission to work in the United States. In 2017, the Trump administration announced plans to terminate DACA, and after a serious of decisions by federal courts, the Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that the decision to terminate the program was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
Following a new legal challenge, the Southern District of Texas ruled last July that the Department of Homeland Security violated the APA by creating and operating DACA; the instant appeal followed. This issue has a significant impact to NAM members, many of whom face workforce challenges that would be made far worse if 800,000 individuals suddenly lose their work authorization. The NAM joined a multi-industry and multi-employer amicus brief to highlight valuable the contributions that individuals with DACA status provide to manufacturers and to the entire U.S. economy and society.
Unforturnately, on October 5, 2022, the 5th Circuit affirmed the trial court's decision.