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Know This Now, May 23, 2026: Attacks on DACA Continue, Renewal Delays Drag on as More Leaders and Businesses Raise Alarm

By May 23, 2026June 8th, 2026No Comments

Attacks on DACA Continue, Renewal Delays Drag on as More Leaders and Businesses Raise Alarm



More and more DACA recipients (immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children) are losing their work permits and protections due to renewal processing delays, even after doing everything right and on-time, confirmed CNN, NPR, NBC and Axios reporting this week, with some DACA Dreamers facing ICE arrest after living and working in the U.S. for decades.

The coverage follows last week’s powerful Senate Judiciary forum featuring impacted DACA families and testimony from ABIC Action CEO Rebecca Shi. Shi’s remarks were included in coverage from Politico and the Chicago Tribune.


Critical employees are now at risk across industries, like a 34-year-old surgical nurse from the Philippines who arrived in the U.S. when she was two years old and now works at Kaiser. Colleagues say she is now slated for termination “because her DACA work paperwork has been delayed by the Trump administration.”

Between January and November of last year, at least 261 DACA recipients were arrested by ICE and 86 were removed from the country for failing to have legal status, despite President Trump saying after the 2024 election that he does support Dreamers being able to stay in the country. 



One of the DACA recipients targeted by ICE is Juan Chavez Velasco, who was arrested while bringing milk to his newborn baby at the hospital. His wife bravely shared her testimony last week, and thanks to public outcry and work by Rep. Joaquin Castro, Velasco was released this week.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DYfV0mbjSVK/

Sign Our Letter: End the Sabotage of DACA Renewals



More from the ABIC Network

Restaurant Business: Restaurant Operators Need to Keep Immigration Reform Top Of Mind

Restaurant industry leaders at the National Restaurant Show urged operators to keep advocating for immigration reform, arguing that aggressive deportation policies are driving up food costs, reducing restaurant traffic in immigrant communities, and worsening labor shortages.

Panelists, including from the Seat the Table coalition, said immigration is not a partisan issue but an economic one, emphasizing that restaurants, and the broader food supply chain, depend heavily on immigrant workers.

“We have a large percentage of our population that are afraid to go out, and they’re not spending…we’re seeing a definite impact to restaurants.” -Emily Williams Knight, President and CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association

The National Restaurant Association has also been lobbying in support of the Dignity Act, one of the bi-partisan, common-sense reforms supported by ABIC Action and Seat the Table.

Empodérate Utah Brings Comité de 100 and Immigration Experts to the Community

Enrique Sanchez, ABIC’s Intermountain State Director presented alongside immigration attorney Monica Salazarat at Comité de 100 Member Belia Paz’s Empodérate Utah event this week. Sanchez was also a featured guest on Paz’s La Ley 107.1FM, a Hispanic community radio station in Salt Lake City.



WSJ: When ICE Came for My Daughter-in-Law

Jen Rickling is a Trump supporter and conservative Arizona mother. Her daughter-in-law Annie is a Dreamer who was detained days after marrying Rickling’s son, she shared in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal calling for “a better way for Annie and other Dreamers.”

“I am a proud conservative who supports President Trump’s efforts to secure the border. I also agree with his pledge to find a way for Dreamers to stay in this nation and his comments following his re-election,” Rickling wrote. “I ask Mr. Trump to ensure that his administration is following through on his wishes for Dreamers like Annie.”

Rickling also spoke at a press event prior to the Senate forum on DACA last week with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Kelly spoke about Rickling’s family ordeal at an ABIC Action event in April.  


News Briefing

PBS: GOP Immigration Enforcement Bill Stalls Amid Backlash to $1.8 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund

Senate Republicans left Washington this week without voting on the ~$70 billion immigration enforcement bill, derailed by internal party divisions. A newly announced $1.78 billion DOJ “anti-weaponization” fund meant to compensate Trump allies who claim political prosecution sparked fierce backlash, with Sen. Mitch McConnell calling it “utterly stupid, morally wrong.” A separate $1 billion provision for White House security, dubbed the “billion-dollar ballroom” by critics, was quietly dropped after Democrat and Republican push back. The vote is now pushed to the week of June 1.


Reuters: Non-Citizens Face More Scrutiny on Bank Activities After Trump Order


A new executive order from Donald Trump will increase scrutiny of non-citizens’ banking activities by directing the Treasury Department to flag signs of payroll tax evasion, labor trafficking, hidden account ownership, and misuse of Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). The order stops short of an earlier proposal that would have required banks to collect customers’ citizenship or immigration status information, a move banks warned would be costly, disruptive, and could push millions out of the formal financial system.

“The proposal was ​seen as an example of the administration listening to industry,” Reuters reported, with an anonymous bank executive saying it shows “the administration was open to change,” based on industry feedback.

Axios: Trump’s Grip is Slipping on Latino Voters

Latino voters’ loyalties are being tested, and both parties should be paying attention as we head towards the midterms, Axios reports.
After swinging 22 points toward Republicans in 2024, Latino voters are pulling back:
66% approval among Latinos who voted for Trump, down from 93% early in his term78% say his policies have been harmful to Hispanics52% in swing districts say they’re still undecided ahead of the midterms
Strategists are calling it “dealignment,” meaning Latino voters are becoming less loyal to either party, and whoever speaks most directly to their concerns, like immigration enforcement and the economy, has the opportunity to win their votes.

Forbes: New Research Finds ICE Immigration Raids Harm the Economy

 
New research finds that aggressive ICE immigration raids can significantly harm local economies by reducing consumer spending, business activity, and workforce participation. A study by University of Pennsylvania Wharton economics professor Zeke Hernandez  found that areas experiencing ICE raids saw declines in foot traffic and spending across many industries, with effects persisting over time and impacting communities regardless of demographics, with a cost of $3-14 billion in foregone spending in a single year.

“The economic damage done to local communities by this administration’s approach to immigration enforcement is widespread, indiscriminate, and persistent,” Hernandez told Forbes.

“It affects the demand side (spending) and the supply side (workers showing up), it harms everyone regardless of birthplace or ethnicity, and it hurts businesses across a wide range of sectors.

Additional research showed that increased immigration enforcement also hurts U.S.-born workers by reducing overall hiring without increasing wages.

Perspectives:

Washington Post Editorial Board: The Unintended Consequences Of Mass Deportations

A new University of Colorado Boulder study found that mass deportations don’t create more jobs for Americans,  they actually reduce employment. In industries like construction, agriculture, and manufacturing, deportations led to a 1.3% drop in jobs for American-born workers without college degrees, with no increase in wages.


“Illegal immigrant workers in these fields are not necessarily substitutes for their American-born peers; they are often complements. That is, these jobs often depend on one another to exist…Shunning foreign-born workers weakens the economy for everyone,” the Editorial Board wrote.

The Hill: America Trains These Doctors — Then Forces Them To Leave


Hundreds of foreign-trained doctors who completed residency programs in U.S. hospitals may be forced to leave the country because of visa delays and new immigration restrictions. Many were set to work in underserved communities through a program that lets doctors stay if they serve in areas facing physician shortages.

“Physicians who signed contracts and planned to start in July now sit in limbo,” writes Dr. Jeffrey Singer, who practices general surgery in Phoenix and is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. These delays are worsening America’s doctor shortage, especially in rural and low-income communities that rely heavily on international medical graduates. 

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