In an evening rally in support of DACA, local San Diego employers raised concerns about the shortage of increasingly well-educated workers that the phaseout could create. “This absolutely limits our ability to get the best and most committed people into the teaching professions,” San Diego City Unified School Board President Richard Barrera said in a San Diego Union-Tribune article.
Meanwhile, startup companies in the area, going through hyper-growth and in need of skilled B2B workers, are re-evaluating where to grow their businesses. The California Chamber of Commerce also raised concerns about the ability of employers to fill the growing number of technology jobs. California has the highest number of residents approved with DACA applications—222,795.
The DACA program has allowed about 800,000 young adults, brought to the US illegally as children, to work legally in the US. It’s estimated that about 40,000 of them are residents of San Diego County.