We cannot continue to delay
given the enormous suffering that is existing in Puerto Rico and in the
Virgin Islands. Very briefly, let me touch on another issue of enormous consequence
which simply cannot be ignored. On September 5, 2017, President Trump
announced that he would be rescinding President Obama's Executive order
on DACA. That decision means that some 800,000 young people who have
known the United States of America as their only home--this is where
they grew up; this is where they went to school--are on the verge of
losing their legal status in terms of education, in terms of
employment, and in terms of serving in the military if that program is
not reestablished. Without the legal protections afforded by the DACA
Program, these young people live in a constant fear of being deported. Since the President's announcement in September, more than 11,000
people have lost the protections under DACA, with there being
approximately 22,000 set to lose their legal protections by the March
5, 2018, deadline. Any spending agreement must address the fear and uncertainty that has
been unnecessarily caused by the administration's reckless actions, and
a clean Dream Act must be signed into law as part of the budget
negotiations. Protecting the Dreamers and moving these young people
toward citizenship is not some kind of wild and radical idea; it is
precisely what the American people want.
Keywords matched
deported DACA