Speech #1140038934

President. I would like to commemorate the thirdyear anniversary of the creation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. DACA. program. On June 15. 2015. we celebrated this successful. although not comprehensive. policy that has provided deportation relief to more than 660.000 child immigrants nationally. including 14.900 in Colorado. This lifechanging program has allowed young people who were brought to the United States as childrenDREAMersto fully engage in their communities by continuing their education and having the opportunity to work. They have been able to open bank accounts. obtain credit cards. and receive drivers licenses. Deferred action is giving these young people relief and some degree of certainty to pursue opportunities that would not have been available to them otherwise. DACA has given DREAMers hope for their future. They include DREAMers like Alex AlvaradoRenteria who has lived in Carbondale. CO for the last 18 years and has known no other home outside of the United States. Alexs parents migrated from Mexico and worked as farmworkers in order to give their children an opportunity for a better life. Alex was granted DACA and has since graduated from the Metropolitan State University of Denver with a bachelor of arts in history and Chicana/o studies. He now plans to become the first in his family to earn an advanced degree by attending law school and opening up his own immigration law practice one day. We also have DREAMers like Lourdes Bustos from Denver. CO who has lived in the United States for the last 26 years and who was able to stay with her children upon receiving DACA. It was years before Lourdes realized she was not documented and would not be able to work legally or get a drivers license. Granting her deferred action meant that she would not be separated from her family. Lourdes has graduated from high school and has opened her own painting business. DACA has played a transformative role in increasing social and economic integration for youth who have been raised and educated in our country. It has given DREAMers an opportunity to invest in their futures. It has empowered DREAMers with a sense of community and belonging. This program has helped many of our young people. but only offers a temporary solution to the unfair consequences of our broken immigration system. This anniversary should also serve as a stark reminder that every day that Congress fails to enact immigration reform. it jeopardizes our economy. our safety. and our communities. It is time to put politics aside and work to enact comprehensive immigration reform.