Congress inability to Pass a Permanent Solution for Dreamers

On September 5, 2017 Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the termination of the highly popular Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Since then, President Donald Trump gave congress until March 5, 2018 to pass legislation that will help dreamers protected under DACA. Six months have passed since then, many proposals have been floated around in the Senate & House of Representatives; however, no bill has passed in any of the chambers.

Due to the recent courts’ decisions in San Francisco and New York, now DACA recipients will be able to continue to renew their work permit even after the so-called March 5th deadline, making it a vague deadline. However, this legal battle and innaction from congress has real consequences for DACA recipients. It is  estimated that 14,000 DACA recipients will lose status due to USCIS processing times. We have also the program has already impacted many young people who would have qualified for DACA. There is an estimate of 120,000 undocumented youth  who were not eligible to apply for the program because they were not old enough. We as Dreamers need certainty in our lives.

Jose Patino, a dreamer protected by DACA and Campaigns Director of Aliento states, “We want to plan our lives longer than two years, live without the fear of deportation, and continue to contribute to the country we call home.”

President Trump & Republicans in congress need to present reasonable immigration proposals that focus on finding a permanent solution for DACA recipients. Democrats need to stop using DACA recipients as talking points for their elections without delivering real results. Now more than ever we need moral courage from our elected officials to solve this crisis that was initially created by President Trump. The country needs to focus on crafting humane policy that will help dreamers and our economy rather than focusing on political gains.

Reyna Montoya Aliento Founder & Executive Director and a DACA recipient states, “We need Congress to solve this problem. Regardless of the courts’ decisions, we understand that this is just a temporary band aid that prolongs the nightmare of living in limbo not only for me, but for thousands of dreamers. We call on the American public to encourage congress to enact a reasonable solution that protects us [Dreamers] without separating us from our families.”

For media inquiries contact: Jose Patino at jose2007cc@gmail.com