She wrote me a letter, and here is what she said:
Although I'm legally labeled as an ``alien'' in this
country I call home, I believe I am an American. And I
believe this not solely because I live, study, work and
contribute to this country, but because I believe in the core
values all Americans share as a nation: liberty, justice, and
prosperity. Ha Eun and other Dreamers have so much to contribute to our country,
but without DACA or the Dream Act, they will be deported back to
countries where they haven't lived since they were children. Will
America be stronger if we deport people like Ha Eun? I think the answer
is obvious. When we introduced the Dream Act, Senator Graham said: ``The moment
of reckoning is coming.'' That moment has arrived. Congress has a
responsibility to do our job and make the Dream Act the law of the land
before the end of the year, before we go home for the holidays;
otherwise, we will bear the responsibility for forcing hundreds of
thousands of talented young immigrants out of the workforce and putting
them at risk of immediate deportation. Many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are interested in
finding a path to get this done. I salute all of them who in good faith
have offered their help. We have to focus now. We have to come together
and focus. Many of my Republican colleagues have said that we need to put in
border security elements. Count me in. Let's sit down and have an
honest discussion about making our borders safer and stronger. I will
gladly join that conversation. I think there are many things we can
agree on that will lessen the likelihood that there will be those
coming across the border in the years to come. I recently met with the head of border security, and we talked about
things that might be done. There is something called a Z Portal. I
didn't know about it. It is a virtual x ray machine, a low-level
radiation x ray machine that can x ray vehicles and determine whether
they are secreting individuals or contraband that shouldn't be allowed
in this country. He talked about one particular border crossing and
said: We have a Z Portal there, but it can be used on only about one
out of every five vehicles. He said: I would like to have more of them. I think he should. Why wouldn't we make that part of border security? I said: What about other things coming into this country, other than
people? He said: One thing we are concerned about is fentanyl.
Keywords matched
immigrants DACA deported border crossing border security deportation