Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
Floor Speech
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Mr. Speaker, today is not a good day for our Nation.
Today, 800,000 young people across this country are living in fear.
They fear being ripped apart from the only home they have ever known.
They fear being separated from their families, from their friends, and from the lives they have built here.
They fear deportation, Mr. Speaker, and they live with this fear because President Trump has decided that the Federal Government is going to break its promise and turn its back on DREAMers.
These are young men and women who did not break the law--they were brought to this country as children--who went to school here, who work here, and who pay taxes here.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program brought these young people out of the shadows and offered them some relief. It gave kids who grew up here and who truly believe that America is their home a chance to lead normal lives and chase their dreams.
The fact of the matter is, though, Mr. Speaker, that DACA did not go quite far enough. DREAMers are American by every measure except for their paperwork, and it is time that we offer them a path to citizenship.
That is why I am here today to call upon my colleagues to bring the Dream Act back to the floor for a vote--no policy riders, no packages, just a straight up-or-down vote. Because if there are Members of this Chamber who still believe that DREAMers should remain in the shadows and that they should not have a chance to join our Nation as citizens, then they should stand up and be counted.
Many of my colleagues here come from all walks of life. They have charted their own path, however difficult it may be to join this House.
DREAMers have earned that chance to carve their own path, too. They have earned the right to live without fear and in peace as Americans.
Passing the Dream Act is the right thing to do, it is the moral thing to do, and, quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, it is the American thing to do.
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