PHOENIX—Phoenix and Mesa, Ariz. rank among the top cities in the nation that stand to benefit from the passage of H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act. The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Greg Stanton, would put certain immigrants including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, as well as those eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), on a pathway to permanent citizenship.
Phoenix ranks fourth, behind only Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, with more than 31,000 H.R. 6-eligible residents and an additional 74,000 family members who would be impacted by the bill, according to an analysis from the Center for American Progress. Mesa is 25th on the list with 4,800 eligible residents and 12,400 family members who would be impacted. [Source]
“DACA recipients, TPS and DED holders are part of our community—our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends,” Stanton said. “They are woven into the social and economic fabric of our entire region, and we have a responsibility to make sure they can continue to contribute and participate fully without fear. When our Dreamers succeed, our communities will be stronger.”
The analysis also evaluated the top counties in the U.S. that would be impacted by the bill—Maricopa County ranked seventh. Countywide, there are 48,700 eligible residents.
According to the Center for American Progress, “Many of these immigrants have lived a large proportion of their lives in the United States under some sort of protected status before the Trump administration took office. Dreamers, for example, about one-third of whom remain protected under the DACA program, came to the United States when they were 8 years old, on average, while those eligible for TPS and DED have, on average, lived in the United States since 1997.”
In Maricopa County, Dreamers’ average age at the time they arrived in the U.S. is 7 years old.
The proposed bill would bring stability to these eligible immigrants, as well as their families. Should these individuals be forced to leave the U.S., cities and counties would experience an economic hit from the disappearance of their tax contributions, spending power, and mortgage payments.
H.R. 6-eligible households in Maricopa County currently contribute nearly $235 million in federal taxes and $143 million in state and local taxes each year. Fifty-eight percent of those state and local taxes are from eligible households in Phoenix.