Does anyone in Washington understand the value of money?

That, of course, is a stupid question.

Few politicians apparently do.

But spending $100 billion in tax dollars on making sure people can be productive citizens and help strengthen the American economy and then deporting them is the very definition of insanity.

That is exactly what is going on now with the deportation crackdown on DREAMers.

DREAMers — an acronym the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act — are those brought here illegally as children and are now adults that are caught in a legal twilight zone.

Before you lean into your preferred dysfunction party animal colors whether they are blue or red, be very clear about what the subject entails.

It does not entail “refugees” who — up until Jan. 20 of this year — all they had to do was enter the country illegally, make sure they were caught, and then utter the three magical words “I want asylum” to be given shelter, food, and assistance, and not being allowed to work until their asylum is vetted.

It doesn’t include illegals who enter the country and make no attempt to become citizens.

There are an estimated 2.3 million DREAMers, three quarters of which arrived in the United States before 2012.

They are non-citizens even though this is the country where they were raised. 

They, like their parents that brought them to the United States as minors, are in this country “illegally” with an asterisk.

That asterisk is DACA — the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. 

It was a policy issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2012 to give amnesty but not a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers.

Save for the “original sin” of being brought to the United States by parents, DREAMers as a whole have been law abiding and contributors to the economy.

This is important to note.

Why?

Because the children of other “illegal” immigrants, born to their parents after they gained entry to the United States, are citizens.

In both cases, they were children of parents in the United States illegally that were brought here (or into the world here) that — for want of a better description — were not old enough to fend for themselves.

Three quarters of those that are classified as DREAMers were bought to the United States when they were younger than 12.

Of the 2.3 million DREAMers, some 1.3 million have jobs. The rest are primarily school-age.

There are 190,000 that work in construction, 190,000 that work in retail, 170,000 in accommodation and food services, 140,000 in manufacturing, 140,000 in professional and business services, 110,000 in healthcare and social assistance, and 80,000 in transportation, warehousing, and utilities.

It should be noted nearly half of employed DREAMers work in sectors of the economy, experiencing job-opening rates of 5 percent or higher.

They contribute roughly $45 billion annually based on wages to the nation’s economy.

And they pay $13 billion annually in federal, payroll, state, and local taxes. It includes $2.1 billion into Social Security and Medicare.

If that doesn’t convince you not creating a path to citizenship for DREAMers is akin to Uncle Sam shooting himself in the foot, here’s a little tidbit you might appreciate if you are a taxpayer or an America first advocate.

Many DREAMers have already earned high school and college degrees and are part of the American economic engine.

Of the DREAMers, 1.6 million have already completed high school. Some 250,000 have competed a college degree.

There are also an estimated 300,000 that meet the DREAMer qualifying parameters that are kindergarten through 12th students and another 300,000 in college.

Keep in mind, in California we spend $120,000 educating a student from the time they enter kindergarten to when they graduate from high school.

That means taxpayers to date have spent well over $100 billion during a span of almost three decades alone on education from kindergarten to college when it comes to DREAMers when you include those in school and who have already graduated.

It is an investment that is paying off.

Without DACA, due to inaction that can be blamed equally on both political parties, the 2.3 million DREAMers can now be deported.

Blame it on Donald Trump all you want, but the bottom line is defining the framework of rules involved in the process of earning citizens is conferred to Congress and not the executive branch.

For 20 years and counting, majorities of both Democrat and Republican elected leaders have agreed there should be a path for citizenship established for DREAMers.

But each time it’s been attempted, both sides have refused to allow solutions to move forward and become law.

They did so by virtue of demanding DREAMer solutions be wedded to other immigration reforms.

And unlike DREAMers, those immigration reforms aren’t also favored by the opposing party.

The deportation of law-abiding and productive DREAMers — who, except for the fact they were brought here illegally by their parents, haven’t broken a law — is determinantal to the United States economy.

It would be sheer lunacy after spending $100 billion to educate them to turn around and pull the rug out from under DREAMers.

Worst yet, we would be sending an educated and skilled workforce to countries that are working mightily to take a large bite of the global economic pie which clearly has a negative impact on American pocketbooks.

Roughly a third of DREAMers are in California.

They are your neighbors, co-workers, those who serve you in stores and restaurants, build homes, serve in the military, play a role in your healthcare, and are even likely people you call friends.

They are people raised in America.

They are people feeding America.

They are people educated in America.

They are people who work in America.

They are people who pay taxes in America.

They are people building a future for America.

America needs “to do what’s right for DREAMers, farmworkers, and other long-term undocumented members of our communities.”

They are not a threat to America.

Their track record proves that.

They are part of America.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com