Before jumping into dollars and cents, let’s consider the most important price tag: the human cost. Those eligible for DACA, often called “Dreamers,” registered with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The rescission of the program means the government can easily identify this group of undocumented immigrants, target them for deportation, and enforce the law. Ironically, given that Dreamers’ parents were ineligible for protection under DACA, it may be easier for immigration officials to target Dreamers than their parents. This would mean splitting up families, sending young people back to countries they may have never known, and moving productive members of American society out of the economy.

Dreamers are young, have not committed a crime while in the U.S. and often, the only place they know to be home is the United States. Their only “crime” was accompanying their parents who opted to enter (or remain in) the U.S. illegally.

In addition, Dreamers of working age are employed (over 90 percent) and are paying taxes, while remaining ineligible for some of the same government benefits to which citizens are entitled (such as food stamps and Medicaid). Deportation of Dreamers will mean reduced productivity and reduced tax revenue at the federal, state and local levels. According to a 2017 study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Dreamers pay as much as $2 billion annually in taxes.

Finally, the administrative and functional costs of deporting Dreamers would be staggering. As we have written previously, the average cost to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from arrest to removal of an undocumented individual is $12,500. Deporting the approximately 800,000 Dreamers would cost the government nearly $10 billion. For perspective, the annual budget for ICE is just over $5 billion. Not only would it cost exorbitant amounts of taxpayer dollars to deport all of the Dreamers—or any significant number of them—but the opportunity costs should alarm the president, his administration, and the average American. Every dollar spent to deport Dreamers is a dollar not spent enforcing immigration laws against individuals who knowingly and purposefully entered the U.S. illegally, individuals engaged in drug or sex trafficking, and undocumented individuals committing serious felonies.