FROM: THE HONORABLE NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN
Dear Colleague,
Please join me to demand the protection of the Dreamers through the continued use of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Dreamers are a generation of high schoolers, or veterans, who were brought to this country through no fault of their own and have only known America as home. DACA was introduced in 2012 to allow Dreamers the ability to apply for temporary status. They came forward on their own, with trust in our system. We cannot let them be victims of the anti-immigration rhetoric or a mindless agenda to destroy DACA.
The movement to undo DACA makes no sense, morally or economically. To qualify for DACA, they must be in high school or have a diploma, be a veteran, and they cannot have been convicted of a felony or major misdemeanor. Since that time, as many as 50,000 to 75,000 Dreamers have entered the labor market to become productive members of society from the U.S. economy.
The Dreamers are like American children everywhere. They are valedictorians, veterans, cheerleaders, high school band members, basketball players, and family members. DACA means that there are now hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who no longer live in constant fear of deportation. Instead, they can live, study and work freely, like young Americans should.
To be clear, DACA is a stopgap solution to protect de-facto Americans until Congress and the White House can work together to pass a long-term solution to our broken immigration system. Until then, protecting DACA is the only way to safeguard this group of young Americans.
As these Dreamers become adults, they are now free to be teachers, engineers or leaders of their community. Most importantly, they are able contribute to the country that is home: the United States of America.
I urge you to support and defend our Dreamers by urging the White House to keep DACA alive.
For more information, please contact Amanda Truong in our office at amanda.truong@mail.house.gov or (202) 225-8220.
Sincerely,
Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44)
Member of Congress