Bill seeks to expand education and employment access for DACA recipients in Wisconsin

MADISON – A new bipartisan set of bills aims to expand access to education and employment for people enrolled in the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — undocumented immigrants whose parents brought them to the United States as children.

The proposed legislation would allow DACA recipients in Wisconsin to obtain state-issued professional licenses and qualify to pay in-state tuition to attend University of Wisconsin System schools. It would also create a $250 nonrefundable tax credit issued every two years to help offset the $495 biennial fee DACA recipients are required to pay to renew their status.

"We have an opportunity to innovate our state with laws that make progress when Congress has refused to," said Rep. John Macco, R-Ledgeview, during a Monday news conference.

President Barack Obama introduced DACA in 2012 as a temporary relief for young migrants until Congress passed more permanent solutions, which it has not done.

DACA recipients are protected from deportation and permitted to legally work in the United States. The policy serves immigrants who were brought here as children under the idea that they should not be deported to a home country they had never really known. 

To qualify, recipients need to have arrived in the U.S.  before age 16, be enrolled in school, have graduated or been honorably discharged from the military, and never been convicted of a major crime, among other requirements. The benefit needs to be renewed every two years.

No new recipients have been allowed into the program since it was challenged in the White House and the courts starting in 2017.

There are currently more than 578,000 DACA recipients in the U.S., about 5,790 of whom live in Wisconsin.

"We’ve long held in this country that we do not hold children responsible for the crimes of their parents, and DACA kids are not guilty of a crime," Macco said.

The legislation has bipartisan cosponsors in both chambers of the Legislature, and co-author Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, D-Milwaukee, said Gov. Tony Evers is "excited to see" the proposal.

At least 24 states offer in-state tuition to residents covered by DACA and 16 allow access to occupational licenses, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Under current law, that means DACA recipients in Wisconsin cannot obtain the licensing needed to work in professions including as a registered nurse, plumber, teacher, dentist, barber or cosmetologist. 

"As a state, we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and make investments in our labor force, only to have someone else in another state utilize that talent that we need right here in the state of Wisconsin," Ortiz-Velez said.

Macco and Ortiz-Velez were joined by several backers of the proposal including Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay; Advanced Wireless CEO Darryl Morin; St. Augustine Preparatory Academy Director of College Advising and Alumni Engagement Allison Jacobsmeier; and Marquette University senior Fatima Jimenez Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, a DACA recipient, said her dream is to become a middle school Spanish teacher in the Milwaukee area, but under current laws, she cannot obtain the necessary licensure.

"We were raised here, we have studied here, we have struggled and persevered here and we have formed our dreams here," Gonzalez said.

Jacobsmeier said supporting the legislation is "a moral and an economic imperative."

"It's about standing up for the values of equality, compassion and opportunity that make Wisconsin a place that we're proud to call home," Jacobsmeier said.

USA TODAY contributed to this story.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.