AMERICA'S IMMIGRATION SYSTEM IS BROKEN

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I have been saying for years that the American immigration system is broken, and it is about time we fix it.

We must pass comprehensive immigration reform. This will obviously require bipartisanship and a deliberative policy process to make it happen.

In the meantime, we ought to do what we can where we can agree to do it, and that is why I am working towards this effort to protect our DREAMers now. This is why I signed the discharge petition to bring to the House floor a bipartisan, bicameral Dream Act which will permanently protect these people who were brought here as children, who are in school, who are serving in our military, who are working and contributing to our economy, that will permanently protect DREAMers and offer them a path to earned citizenship.

At Fresno State University, we have 1,200 DREAMers who are enrolled; at UC Merced, we have 600 DREAMers who are enrolled. We have thousands of young people in the San Joaquin Valley who are impacted, and that is why we must change this law and that is why I am here today, calling on the House leadership to bring the Dream Act to the floor. It is the right thing to do. It is the American way in which we solve problems.

I will continue to do everything in my power to bring the Dream Act to the House floor to vote and to work for a comprehensive and a longer term immigration policy so that we don't have to continue to have the political
posturing and the fight that has endured way too long. Let's fix this for the DREAMers now.

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