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Few groups face more uncertain fate under President Trump than the Dreamers, the 750,000 immigrants granted work permits and temporary residency since 2012 under Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Trump campaigned on ending DACA, and though he seemed to soften his stance slightly post-electionWere going to work something out thats going to make people happy and proud, he told TIME in Decemberhis spree of Obama-undoing executive orders in recent days has provided little comfort for those whose legal status rides on the program.

Trump, himself, articulated some sympathy for their position (and perhaps an odd disregard of his own power) in that same interview, telling TIME: They got brought here at a very young age, theyve worked here, theyve gone to school here. Some were good students. Some have wonderful jobs. And theyre in never-never land because they dont know whats going to happen.

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer did not make Trumps intentions much clearer. When asked about the fate of the program, Spicer said the presidents first immigration priority is to deal with those who are in the country illegally and have a criminal record (i.e not the Dreamers, who have all undergone rigorous background checks). But, he added, Then we're going to continue to work through the entire number of folks that are here illegally.

Theres a bipartisan effort in both houses to address the uncertainty with legislationthe Ban Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow Our Economy, or BRIDGE, Actthat would protect DACA beneficiaries until more comprehensive immigration reform is achieved.

As the BRIDGE bills name suggests, theres a strong business case for keeping Dreamers in the U.S, according to recent studies. The non-partisan Migration Policy Institute has found that work authorization provided by deferred action boosts a workers household income, on average, by 10%.

But such measures also boost the fortunes of those around them. Immigrants' gains in wages and productivity greatly benefit the broader economy, according to work from the left-leaning Center for American Progress. Its research, led by a professor at the University of California-San Diego, estimates ending DACA would cost the country $433 billion in growth over 10 years, including an annual $11 billion hit to California alone. Other states with large Dreamer populationsincluding Texas, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina and Washingtonstand to lose more than $1 billion in GDP per year.

The Immigration Legal Resource Center, meanwhile, estimated in December that ending DACAand theoretically removing hundreds of thousands of Dreamers from jobswould cost American employers at least $3.4 billion in terms of turnover and hiring expenses and reduce social security and Medicare tax contributions by $24.6 billion (half of which would have been paid by employers).

For now, those losses are merely hypotheticals. As of Tuesday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services continued to accept and process DACA requests.

A version of this article appears in the February 1, 2017 issue of Fortune with the headline "Are 'Dreamers' Worth Billions to States?".

See the article here:
Trump's First Days Keep Dreamers in Immigration Limbo - Fortune