We Must Pass a Legislative Solution for Dreamers Before the Year’s End

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2017

CONTACT
Hayley Burgess, [email protected], 202-805-0375

Statement in Response to Trump and Senate Republicans:
We Must Pass a Legislative Solution for Dreamers Before the Year’s End

WASHINGTON — President Trump and Senate Republicans announced today that they will not attach a legislative solution for Dreamers to an end-of-year spending bill, leaving the futures of hundreds of thousands of young people in limbo.

After rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in September, the president put pressure on Congress to pass a solution for the nearly 800,000 young immigrants who have been able to live, work, and study in the U.S. under the program.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree that an urgent legislative solution is critical. Every major poll shows widespread bipartisan support for such a solution, and Congress has no excuse not to move swiftly to vote on a permanent solution before the holidays. Failure to act will cause immediate and permanent damage.

Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement:

“The news today that President Trump and Senate Republicans will not include a solution for Dreamers in the end-of-year spending bill is not only unacceptable, but impossibly cruel. The livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of young people and their families hang in limbo, and a solution simply cannot wait until next year. Their educators, employers, and community members cannot wait anymore. We have come too far to turn back now.

“Negotiations do not begin with a white supremacist wish list. Trump created this crisis by recklessly ending DACA in September, and in doing so he asked Congress to act. Congress has an opportunity to do the right thing, but not if it refuses to engage in good-faith conversations about practical solutions to move our country forward. Failure to act will cause immediate and permanent damage not only for immigrant youth but for the country.

“This is a moment of truth for Republicans. Will they show up to actually govern? Or will they continue to cater to their white nationalist fringe? The answer should be simple.”

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