The Big Story: Time is running out for Congress to save imperiled immigration program
As the end of the year quickly approaches—and with it, the end of this session of Congress—the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) remains uncertain. DACA recipients play a key role in the startup ecosystem as entrepreneurs and STEM talent. Without Congressional action, the future of the program will likely end up in the hands of the Supreme Court, which could invalidate the program. Senate Democrats are pushing to provide permanent status for Dreamers before that happens.
DACA was established in 2012 by the Obama administration to help provide legal protections to a pool of young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. But the program has long been tied up in lengthy court battles challenging its legality. The program was found unlawful by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in October, blocking the Biden administration from approving new applicants. Without Congressional action, current recipients are left concerned their protections will be eliminated by the courts. Hoping to provide certainty for Dreamers, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recently announced that Democrats in Congress would push to permanently protect DACA beneficiaries before Congress leaves town this month.
As Engine has long stated, Dreamers are overwhelmingly entrepreneurial and contributing a great deal to our thriving innovation ecosystem country-wide. Immigrants found new businesses at rates higher than native-born Americans, and DACA recipients stimulate and fill gaps in critical STEM fields—including in industries like healthcare and technology. In doing so, they provide talent that is essential for a thriving ecosystem and economy. Policymakers must work to ensure that the U.S. remains a place where Dreamers are welcomed and embraced, and founders and entrepreneurs are able to innovate.
Policy Roundup:
Coalition of rights groups warn of unintended consequences of proposed children’s privacy law. This week, human rights and LGBTQ+ organizations sent a letter to congressional leaders warning that the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) would effectively require companies to use invasive filtering and monitoring technologies, ultimately undermining the privacy, online safety, and digital well-being of children, vulnerable populations, and other Internet users. The bill purports to improve privacy and security online for minors and is being pushed forward by sponsors in the final weeks of the year.
Senate hearing explores digital trade policy, opportunities for startups. The Senate Finance International Trade subcommittee on Wednesday held a hearing to examine how to capitalize on opportunities presented by digital trade through smart trade policy. Members of the committee and witnesses alike highlighted several digital trade priorities for startups, including avoiding prohibitions on cross-border data flows, making permanent the WTO e-commerce moratorium, expanding trade resources available for small businesses and startups, and building future trade initiatives upon a foundation of the groundbreaking USMCA digital trade chapter and U.S.-Japan digital agreements.
Engine shares comments on privacy rulemaking. Last week, Engine filed comments with the Federal Trade Commission as it contemplates writing rules to curb what the agency calls “commercial surveillance,” urging the Commission to proceed in a way that supports, rather than burdens, startups. The effort comes amid an expanding patchwork of state-level privacy laws and a federal privacy bill that has seen some progress in this Congress. It’s crucial for the startup ecosystem to have a consistent federal privacy framework that creates clear obligations for organizations and provides strong protections for consumers.
Biden student loan relief plan on hold. The Supreme Court announced this week that they will hear arguments in a challenge to the Biden administration’s student loan relief plan in February—maintaining an injunction from the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis that prevents the program from taking effect. As a result of the multiple setbacks in court to the forgiveness plan, the administration announced an extension to the student loan payment pause which is planned to last until 60 days after the lawsuit is resolved. But, if the program hasn’t been implemented and legal proceedings haven’t concluded by June 30, payments will resume 60 days later. As Engine has stated in the past, the student debt crisis stifles innovation and can prevent new, would-be founders and entrepreneurs from launching and growing their startups.
UK updates content moderation bill. The UK government this week updated its Online Safety Bill, including by removing provisions that would have forced large tech platforms to takedown “legal but harmful” content. But many provisions that would raise barriers to U.S. startups serving UK users remain—including, e.g., provisions that are designed to protect children, but incent additional data collection and the use of intrusive age verification systems. The bill could become law as soon as next year.
India proposes new data protection bill. Indian officials are considering a new draft data protection bill after pulling a previous version from consideration earlier this year. The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill improves on previous versions by removing data localization provisions and could be introduced to Parliament early next year.
Startup Roundup:
#StartupsEverywhere: Los Angeles, California. After building her own medical practice, Dr. Renee Dua has relied on that experience to found and grow two innovative tech startups in the healthcare space. We spoke with Renee about the important healthcare access benefits of her digital health assistant platform—Renee, the lessons she has learned about navigating the fundraising ecosystem as a two-time company founder, and why companies, as well as policymakers, need to be thoughtful in how they approach automated systems.
