10.17.19

Durbin Stands With DACA Supreme Court Plaintiffs To Call On Congress To Protect Dreamers

President Trump’s case against DACA threatens hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients legally living and working in the United States The House Passed A Bipartisan Solution In The American Dream And Promise Act, But Leader McConnell Leaves Dreamers And Their Families In Limbo By Refusing To Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today joined Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Luján (D-NM-03), plaintiffs in the upcoming DACA case before the U.S. Supreme Court, and immigration advocates to call on Congress to pass legislation that would offer permanent protection from deportation for Dreamers.

“On September 5, 2017, President Trump repealed DACA. This cruel decision put hundreds of thousands of Dreamers in limbo; they faced losing their work permits and being deported to countries they barely remember. And now President Trump has appealed to the Supreme Court, which will hear this case on November 12, 2019, less than one month from now. Thankfully, the House of Representatives responded to President Trump by passing the American Dream and Promise Act on a bipartisan vote,” said Durbin. “It would be an American tragedy to deport these young people back to countries they barely remember. The Senate should immediately take up the American Dream and Promise Act and send this bipartisan legislation to the President’s desk.”

“I would not be where I am today if it was not for DACA, this program has opened academic doors that I had no idea were available,” said DACA plaintiff Dellara Gorjian. “I worked full time at a law firm before pursuing a career in law. DACA is the only way I can continue to go to school and work in the United States, the place that has been my home for the last 20 years, the place in which I have spent sleepless nights studying its very legal system.”

“Through the help and support of my community, I have been able to keep pursuing my education and goal to become a PhD in clinical psychology,” said DACA plaintiff Norma Ramirez. “And as a mental health professional, I know the kinds of effects that toxic stress can have on our community, primarily, as a result of the constant uncertainty that we face every day. Therefore, in order to improve the mental health of our community, we need to make sure that we provide as much certainty and protection as possible.”

“I was the first in my family to graduate college and become the teacher I am today, and with these opportunities, I have been able to give back to my community,” said DACA plaintiff Miriam Gonzalez Avila. “I want to be able to teach my students without the fear of being separated from them.”

Approximately 700,000 DACA recipients are currently living in limbo ahead of November 12, 2019, when the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on whether the Trump administration’s September 5, 2017, termination of the DACA program was unlawful.

Over the last two years, an extended legal battle has kept DACA renewals open for young immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, and the program has been tremendously successful, benefiting Dreamers and their families while also strengthening communities across the country, and the entire American economy.

You can watch today’s press event here.

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