We are talking about these
young people whose parents brought them here to give them a better
chance, but the children didn't have a choice in whether or not they
would come here. They saw the promise that hard work, education, and
opportunity--helped a little bit by the government--worked for the
people. So that is really what we are talking about, and that is why I
believe it is a new level of inhumanity for President Trump to betray
the foundational values of this Nation by repealing DACA. He is no
better than Pontius Pilate by having Attorney General Jeff Sessions
make the announcement yesterday. President Trump is providing
absolutely no leadership for his party or the American people on an
issue that even he says is an important one, and I can only hope that
he recognizes and understands the cruelty that repealing DACA will
inflict on innocent young families, innocent young people all across
this country. So if President Trump wants to take away these protections, then,
Congress must act. The ball is in the court of the Republican
leadership in the House and in the Senate. Speaker Paul Ryan and Leader
Mitch McConnell can either listen to a growing chorus of their own
colleagues and to the business leaders and CEOs--including Apple,
Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, General Motors--and to academic leaders
and countless college and university presidents who all support DACA,
or they can side with the forces of intolerance and injustice. Congress should pass the Dream Act so that individuals who were
brought here at a young age can earn citizenship by serving in the
military or pursing higher education. Ultimately, the House of Representatives must also debate and vote on
comprehensive immigration reform. I have long supported a pathway to
citizenship for the 11 million immigrants who are living here in the
shadows. We are the United States of America. We are a nation of immigrants. We are called on not simply to tolerate but to celebrate our immigrant
communities, to understand not only the need but the value of our
immigrant communities, to embrace not just the differences but the
diversity of our immigrant communities. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said: ``Remember, remember always
that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants
and revolutionists.'' No one knows that better than the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. We have always believed that no matter who you are or
where you come from, you can achieve the American dream. We recognize
that our economy and our security are stronger because of the immigrant
families who have enriched our Nation since its founding. That is why this decision from the Trump administration cannot stand. We will not let it.
Keywords matched
immigration immigrants immigrant DACA