I thank the Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, for organizing all of
us this afternoon to speak on behalf of these Dreamers. His leadership
has been critical in this fight for the dignity and recognition of
hundreds of thousands of wonderful young people who know no other home
than the United States of America. For 5 years, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals--or DACA--
Program, has created security and opportunity for young immigrants
around the country, but now the futures of some 800,000 young people--
7,900 of them in Massachusetts--are needlessly in jeopardy because
President Trump has coldheartedly repealed DACA. DACA has been a hugely successful program. It has provided so many
young immigrants safety, security, dignity, respect, and opportunity. These are young people who study, who work, who live next-door to us
every single day. They are our friends, our neighbors, and our loved
ones. I would like to speak for a few minutes about one of these DACA
beneficiaries. She is 28-year-old Paola Sanchez, who came to the United
States from Bolivia when she was 14 years old. Paola's father passed
away when she was just 8 years old.
Keywords matched
immigrants DACA