WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Pete Aguilar led a letter with Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10) pushing for legislation to expand federal employment requirements to include individuals in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Current law states that DACA recipients are eligible for jobs in the private sector and can serve as federal fellows and interns but are prohibited from federal employment.

The letter was sent to the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittees on the Legislative Branch and Financial Services and General Government and was signed by 72 Members of Congress.

“DACA recipients have been raised and educated in this country. On average, DACA recipients arrived in the U.S. at the age of 7, meaning the United States is the only home that they have ever known, and the country they love,” reads the letter. “These young men and women serve in uniform, teach in schools, start businesses on Main Streets across the country, and contribute to the fabric of our communities in every conceivable way. Congress, and the federal government more broadly, could benefit from the contributions of DACA recipients, if only we removed the barriers preventing them for joining our federal workforce.”

The full text of the letter can be found here.

Rep. Aguilar serves as the Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and as a member of the House Committee on Appropriations.

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