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Know This Now, June 12, 2026: ABIC Action Joins Business Leaders and DACA Recipients for National Press Conference, Releases Letter From Over 120 CEOs Demanding Immediate Action to Protect Dreamers

By June 15, 2026No Comments

ABIC Action was joined this afternoon by business owners, healthcare executives, and DACA recipients for a national press conference to sound the alarm on unprecedented processing delays within the DACA program.

Coinciding with the event, a joint letter signed by over 120 leading CEOs and business leaders from across the country was published urging the administration and Congress to protect the American workforce. Watch the full press conference here.

“For 6 weeks now, I have been on unpaid leave as I wait for my DACA and work authorization to process… I, like many others in my position, just want to get back to work,” said Mr. Jimenez, an asset management professional.

“In Texas, there was a law that was passed where you need to have legal status to renew your occupational license… With DACA delays, it keeps some of the barbers from being able to renew their license and from them being able to work,” said Zach Galindo, owner of Galindo’s Barbershop. Watch highlights of his remarks.

“At Monte Vista Grove, approximately 10% of our staff are DACA recipients. Delays in approving DACA renewal requests are forcing us to remove affected employees from the work schedule… care for older adults is being directly affected,” said Deborah Herbert, CEO of Monte Vista Grove Homes.

“DACA recipients contribute approximately over $420 billion in GDP… if this does not change, it will challenge the growth of the country, not just the Dreamers themselves,” said Raul Raymundo, CEO of the Resurrection Project

News Briefing:

NBC News: House Passes $70 Billion Funding Package for ICE and Border Patrol

The House narrowly passed the Secure America Act in a 214-212 vote, approving a $70 billion package fully funding ICE and Border Patrol through the end of the current presidential term. 

Senate Republicans utilized the fast-track budget reconciliation process to clear the legislation, bypassing the usual 60-vote Senate threshold. Now that the House has approved it as well, the bill will go to the president’s desk for his expected signature. 

Funding for these specific enforcement agencies had previously been stripped out of broader budget deals due to standoffs over transparency and oversight reforms, forcing the administration to temporarily rely on alternative funding streams to pay active agents. With those stopgap measures now replaced by a fully resourced, multi-year federal strategy, the administration possesses the sustained financial backing to continue its aggressive enforcement mandate. 

Marketplace: Immigration to the U.S. Has Steeply Declined, the Economic Impact Will Last Decades

A new report by the Yale Budget Lab warns that federal immigration restrictions and deportations will inflict a compounding economic drag on the U.S. The study finds that even if immigration policies completely return to normal baseline levels by 2029, the four-year crackdown between 2025 and 2028 triggers a multi-decade domino effect. Because population and business demographics evolve slowly, a temporary drop in arrivals today means fewer business founders over the next several decades, and fewer native-born descendants launching startups later in the century.

Because immigrants are 80% more likely to start employer-firms than native-born Americans, this policy shift locks out primary drivers of innovation. Ultimately, this sustained shock permanently alters the trajectory of the U.S. economy:

Fortune: Miami is the World Cup’s Best-Performing Host City — and 45% of its Hotels are Still Projecting a Miss

Leading up to the tournament, hotel bookings are softer than expected across all 11 U.S. host cities. A recent American Hotel and Lodgings Association (AHLA) survey specifically notes that current U.S. immigration procedures and visa delays may be discouraging international visitors, causing the majority of host cities to report shortfalls as of May 2026.

While the impact is widespread, hospitality data reveals a stark contrast in how different cities are coping with the drop in tourist confidence. Kansas City is the hardest hit, with 85% to 90% of hotel owners reporting fewer bookings than expected, underperforming even a normal summer.

Philadelphia and San Francisco are also facing a significant drag, with 75% of properties reporting bookings tracking below expectations. Conversely, Miami remains the most resilient host city, where only 45% of hotels are projecting a shortfall.

Vital City: How Immigrants Make New York City Go

The Trump administration’s plan to escalate mass deportations is a direct threat to NYC’s economy. White House border czar Tom Homan recently issued a stark warning, promising a massive surge of ICE agents into the five boroughs following New York’s latest legislative efforts to limit federal immigration enforcement in local jails. 

According to an analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey by David Dyssegaard Kallick and Anthony Capote for Vital City, foreign-born workers are core to many industries in NYC:

Instead of creating more jobs for  American workers, research shows a sudden contraction of this consumer and labor base threatens to worsen workforce shortages and lower overall economic productivity.

WSJ: Judge Strikes Down Trump Administration’s $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee

A federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee, ruling it amounts to an unauthorized tax and blocking it nationwide. The administration plans to appeal, and another court previously upheld a similar fee in a separate case, leaving the issue unsettled.

The H-1B program remains a divisive issue within Trump’s base: tech leaders like Elon Musk view it as essential to U.S. innovation, while some MAGA critics argue it lets companies prioritize foreign workers over Americans.

Perspectives: 

The Philadelphia Inquirer: DACA Delays Threaten Dreamers’ Contributions to the U.S. Economy

Luis F. Carrasco, deputy opinion editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, highlights how, under the Trump administration, processing delays in DACA renewals have left many “Dreamers” in what he describes as “bureaucratic limbo,” despite their active efforts to maintain legal status.

“I feel pretty helpless,” explained Victor Espinoza, a college graduate who came to the United States at the age of 10 legally as a dependent on his father’s H-1B work visa and later relied on DACA protections after aging out of dependent status. Espinoza notes that renewal applications had historically been processed within three months, but recent delays have left him unable to renew his work authorization, forcing him to take a leave of absence from his job.

Carrasco argues that these delays are part of a broader effort to gradually weaken DACA without formally ending the program. Although DACA recipients contribute approximately $2.1 billion annually to Social Security and Medicare while remaining ineligible for most federal benefits, the continued erosion of the program threatens the economic security of hundreds of thousands of Dreamers and the communities, employers, and families that rely on them.

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