CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I speak tonight on the issue of the
DACA program. In 2012, President Obama issued an executive action to allow 800,000
young people, known as DACA kids, to remain in the United States. These
are young immigrants who were brought here at an early age by their
parents, people who had no choice in whether to come to the United
States, but, for many, this is the only home and only Nation they have
ever known. These young people now face the threat of deportation if Congress
does not act as soon as possible. And certainly, by March 5, 800,000
young people will become subject to deportation. Already, there has
been a cost to Congress' inaction. Every day, 122 of these folks become
subject to deportation. We all understand in this body the long history of immigration to the
United States and the incredible contributions that immigrants from
around the world have made to our Nation. These are people from
Germany, Ireland, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. From literally every
corner of the globe, people have come here lending their talents, their
energy, their creativity, and their passion to making sure that the
United States remains the greatest Nation on Earth. That is the case
with the DACA kids. Today, I am joined by several of my colleagues who are going to share
some stories about DACA recipients, their lives, and the contributions
they are making in our American communities and in American life. But before I yield to my first colleague, I want to run through, for
a minute, the requirements for somebody to be a DACA recipient. This
has sometimes been, obviously, a very passionate, sometimes heated
debate about what should happen with the DACA recipients and whether
the Congress should even commit itself to coming up with a DACA
solution. Whether it is people making comments on television or
sometimes comments you read online, it is clear that there is a lot of
misinformation out there--sometimes, willful misinformation--about who
these people are. So I want to read real quickly the requirements for somebody to be a
DACA recipient. First, they were under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012. Second, they came to the United States before reaching their 16th
birthday. Third, they have continuously resided in the United States since June
15, 2007, up to the present time. Fourth, they were physically present in the United States on June 15,
2012, and at the time of making the request for consideration of
deferred action with USCIS. Fifth, they had no lawful status on June 15, 2012. Sixth, they are currently in school, have graduated or obtained a
certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general
equivalency development--GED--certificate, or are an honorably
discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United
States. And, seventh, they have not been convicted of a felony, significant
misdemeanor, or three or more misdemeanors, and did not otherwise pose
a threat to national security or public safety. This addresses two of the common questions or, sometimes, criticisms
that you hear about the DACA program, which, first, is the idea that
some of these folks are criminals. Well, it makes very clear in these
requirements that that cannot be the case. And then, second, this idea that, hey, these folks, if they wanted
to, they could have just become citizens. Again, number five was: had
no lawful status on June 15, 2012, when the program commenced. These are energetic, hardworking folks that we can be very proud of
who are making significant contributions to American society. Congress must act--and we should act this week--to come up with a
DACA solution, to make sure that no more of these kids are subject to
deportation, that their lives are no longer left in the balance, and
that their futures are secure. These are folks who are in college, who
have graduated and have gone into different fields, different
professions, teachers and many other different professions that are
represented by the DACA students now. Congress must act to make sure
that they can stay in the country. Mr.
Keywords matched
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