FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 8, 2018

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Juan Gastelum, 213-375-3149
Hayley Burgess, 202-384-1279

Reported New Bipartisan Bill Underscores Momentum, Progress Toward a Solution for Immigrant Youth

WASHINGTON — News media today reported that Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) and Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) will soon introduce a new bipartisan bill to provide a pathway to U.S. citizenship for Dreamers. The bill will reportedly couple relief for immigrant youth who arrived in the U.S. as minors with some border and other enforcement provisions. It aims to be “as narrow as possible,” Hurd told CNN.

The Trump administration created a crisis in September when officials ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, upending the lives of nearly 800,000 young people covered by the program. Every day an estimated 122 DACA recipients lose their eligibility to work and drive in the U.S., and become vulnerable to detention and deportation. More than 15,000 immigrant youth have already lost DACA protections.

The new bipartisan bill would be the latest of several legislative proposals, including the bipartisan Dream Act, under consideration by Congress as a means of enacting a permanent solution for immigrant youth.

Kamal Essaheb, policy and advocacy director at the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement:

“We have been clear all along that the Trump-created DACA crisis requires a swift and clean legislative fix. The lives of immigrant youth are not a bargaining chip to further President Trump’s wish list of an anti-immigrant agenda. However, we are encouraged to see continued bipartisan support for immigrant youth and potential progress toward a solution that would finally allow them a sense of security in this country, which is their home. Congress must continue moving in a positive direction. It must past the Dream Act now, without harming communities.”

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