Press Release: READ: Gov. Evers Sends Letter Urging President Trump, Wisconsin’s Congressional Delegation to Hold Trump Administration Accountable for Continued Delays in Renewing DACA Applications 

Dear President Trump and Duly Elected Members of Congress: 

I write to you today to highlight the harmful impacts of the Trump Administration’s treatment of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, quietly undermining Dreamers by holding folks in a state of limbo as they seek to legally renew their DACA applications. The instability produced by the lengthy delays in application renewals is creating long-lasting impacts on Dreamers’ ability to stay in the U.S., work legally, and support themselves and their families, but these delays represent the Trump Administration’s ongoing, strategic efforts to target immigrant communities and undermine essential protections that folks and families have relied on for well over a decade—all at the expense of our state’s workforce and economy that will reap the consequences. 

Since 2012, DACA has provided individuals who came here as kids and call our country home the opportunity to apply for and obtain legal work status, ensuring folks can work and support themselves and their families. But the application renewal delays caused by the Trump Administration have caused unnecessary barriers that are holding hardworking people, as well as our workforce, economy, and communities, back.  

Despite the many merits of the DACA program, President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Administration have made clear their disdain for the DACA program since Day One. In his first term, President Trump attempted to terminate the DACA program, an effort that was ultimately blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, short of terminating the program, the Trump Administration has worked to chip away at the program by significantly delaying application renewals, resulting in many individuals losing their legal work permits and leaving folks vulnerable to detention and deportation despite going through every legal avenue to maintain their DACA status. The Trump Administration’s blatant undermining of this program has already been incredibly consequential to the folks and families who rely on it to maintain their lives, put food on the table, and care for their families, and if these delays continue, our workforce and economy will pay the price. 

For the past seven years, my administration and I have worked to bolster our state’s workforce, especially in high-need industries and professions, and prepare them for the 21st Century. This past April, I joined local advocates and stakeholders to sign 2025 Wisconsin Act 240, a bipartisan bill that helps address Wisconsin’s generational workforce challenges by removing unnecessary barriers to employment for Dreamers who are already living and working in Wisconsin. Act 240 allows workers who are Dreamers to obtain credentials for certain occupations if they satisfy all applicable credentialing requirements, allowing them to join several key areas of Wisconsin’s workforce that have a demonstrated need for future workers, including registered nurses, dentists, teachers, emergency medical technicians, and trade workers, among others.

Here in Wisconsin, we’re working to do the right thing for the over 5,000 Dreamers in our state to make sure they can pursue their higher education and career goals to give back to the communities that raised them. In so doing, we are also doing the right thing for our state and our economy, too, by making sure smart, talented, and capable people can join our workforce in high-need areas. I would encourage federal leaders to follow Wisconsin’s example to ensure Dreamers can continue to contribute to our country. 

Let’s be clear: Immigrants play a critical role in our economy and our communities in every corner of our state—and they have for generations. In Wisconsin, we’ve always believed that if you work hard, obey the law, pay taxes, and play by the rules just like everyone else, you should have a fair shot at pursuing the American Dream, including having the opportunity to join our professional workforce.  

Mr. President, I urge you to end this harmful practice by your administration and resume expeditious processing and renewal of DACA applications. And to Wisconsin’s Republican congressional delegation, I urge you to stand up for Wisconsin’s Dreamers, who will be or are up for renewals, and join me in demanding that the Trump Administration immediately identify and resolve the source of these unconscionable delays and resume processing and renewal of DACA applications, as Senator Baldwin, Congressman Pocan, and Congresswoman Moore have done. These hardworking members of our community should not endure the consequences of the Trump Administration’s failure to uphold the DACA program to basic standards.  

Please do not hesitate to reach out to my administration with any questions about the negative impact of the president’s neglect of the DACA program on our great state. 

Yours in service,  

Tony Evers  

Governor