This is the time of year during
which Vermont is very, very beautiful. The truth is that it would
really be unconscionable for us to leave Washington after giving tax
breaks to billionaires and large corporations while we ignore the
enormous problems that are facing the middle class and working families
of our country. When Donald Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
Program, the DACA Program, nearly 800,000 lives were thrown into chaos
and uncertainty. Without the legal protections afforded by the DACA
Program, hundreds of thousands of young people today are living in
terrible fear and anxiety about losing the legal status they currently
have in the only country they have ever known. These are young people
who grew up in the United States, went to school in the United States,
are working in the United States, and are in our military. This is
their home. It would be unspeakable to take away their legal status and
subject them to deportation. Since the President's announcement in September, more than 11,000
people have already lost their protections under DACA, with
approximately 22,000 set to lose their legal protections by the March
5, 2018, deadline. These are hundreds of thousands of wonderful young
people. We cannot turn our backs on them. We must deal with DACA before
we leave for the holiday break. Any end-of-the-year spending agreement
must address the fear and uncertainty caused by the administration's
reckless actions, and a clean Dream Act must be signed into law. This is not just what Bernie Sanders wants; this is what the American
people in overwhelming numbers want.
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DACA deportation