Speech #1140086267

But we took strength in being together as a family. However. in addition to facing the kind of challenges my whole family faced when we first arrived in this country. DACA and DAPA families live in constant fear that they will be ripped apart through deportation. These families and children have been living in limbo for over a year while the legal challenges work their way through the system. through the courts. In addition. United States v. Texas is also pushing DREAMers who are eligible for the original DACA Program. which is not being challenged. further into the shadows. Singai Masiya. who heads the Aloha DREAM Team in my home State and is a DREAMer himself. told my office that DACAeligible people in Hawaii stopped applying for DACA. Why? They are afraid that if the Court rules against President Obamas Executive actions. their application information will be used to deport them. This is a real fear in our communities. United States v. Texas not only affects the lives of the more than 7.000 DACA- and DAPAeligible Hawaii residents. it affects our economy. Over 10 years. DACA. DAPA. and expanded DACA are projected to provide a $276 million cumulative increase in Hawaiis State gross domestic product. The Center for American Progress also projects that. over 10 years. DACA. DAPA. and DACA expansion would provide a $136 million increase in the combined earnings of Hawaiis residents. However. in order to see these economic benefits. the Justices of the Supreme Court must rule on the side of DREAMers and the DAPA families. My hope is that the Supreme Court rules that the President is well within his legal authority in expanding DACA and DAPA and allows these Executive actions to be implemented. I note. however. that Executive actions. important as they are. are not enough. The President himself has called on Congress to fix our broken immigration system so that 11 million undocumented people in our country can come out of the shadows and live and work openly. It has been almost 3 years since the Senate passed bipartisan. comprehensive immigration reform. I call upon Congress to do our jobs and enact fair. humane. and sensible immigration reformrecognizing that we are. indeed. a country of immigrants. That fact is at the very root of our strength as a nation. Mr.