Daca

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this crisis we face in this country involving DACA is a crisis that was created when President Trump announced the end of the program on September 5 of last year and gave us a deadline of March 5 of this year to come up with an alternative. Many of us, including the Presiding Officer, battled mightily to do that--a bipartisan effort with compromise on both sides--but we never could come up with a proposal the President accepted. As a consequence, the destiny of the DACA recipients is uncertain.

They are now temporarily protected by an injunction from two different Federal lawsuits--an injunction which could end in a matter of weeks or months. In the meantime, their status is so uncertain that it is difficult for them to make plans for their lives. That is where we are today.

DACA has been a huge success. It is a program designed to give those who were brought here as children, toddlers, and infants an opportunity to become part of America--a legal part of America--and an opportunity to one day become citizens.

DACA was an Executive order of President Obama's which President Trump has now abolished. There is no protection, other than the court injunction for those who are facing the end of DACA.

Yesterday, I convened a meeting with some of my Senate colleagues with the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen. Here is what we learned: As of yesterday, more than 35,000 DACA renewal applications are pending because of these court orders. Of these pending renewal applications, 10,000 were from recipients whose DACA protection had already expired. Tens of thousands more Dreamers have DACA protection due to expire soon. Around 13,000 DACA permits could expire in March, another 5,300 in April, and nearly 14,000 more in May.

Understand what happens: When a person is protected by DACA and loses that protection, technically, they can be deported. In addition, they cannot legally continue to work in the United States.

There is some good news, though. Secretary Nielsen promised me that the Department of Homeland Security will not deport any DACA recipient with a pending DACA application, even if their DACA status has expired. I thank her for that commitment, and I intend to hold her to that commitment. Many lives are at stake.

However, for DACA recipients whose status has expired, that same Department will not authorize them to work unless and until DACA is renewed, so there can be a gap in their employment. Understand that the people we are talking about are not folks, by and large, with part-time jobs. They are teachers. They are medical professionals. Some of them are serving in our military.

What we now know about the expiration of this work permit is that tens of thousands of DACA-eligible individuals could be forced to leave their jobs while their applications for renewal are pending and before those applications are approved.

Then consider the fate of Dreamers who are eligible for DACA but never reached the necessary age to attain that status. They can no longer apply for DACA because President Trump's decision prohibits them after September 5. If a child turns 15, the youngest age at which they can apply for DACA, they are now blocked from applying because of the President's decision.

The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute estimates that in addition to 800,000 DACA recipients, there are an additional 1 million Dreamers eligible for DACA. Because of President Trump's decision to end DACA, 1.8 million Dreamers are at risk of deportation and cannot work to support themselves and contribute to the only country they know and the country they love.

President Trump called on Congress to legalize DACA, but he has, unfortunately, refused to accept six different bipartisan offers to achieve that. One of those offers also included $25 billion for his wall. Yet he wouldn't accept it.

Let me tell my colleagues the story of one of these young people, as I have done before. I have come to the floor of the Senate more than 110 times to tell these stories. I just think when you hear the stories of an individual, it helps us understand what the real issue is.

This is a photo of Irving Calderon. He is the 112th Dreamer I have talked about on the Senate floor. When he was 7 months old, Irving was brought to the United States from Mexico by his parents. He lived in California for 10 years and then moved to Texas where he currently lives. His childhood memories include Disneyland, going to the beach, and celebrating Christmas and the Fourth of July with his family.

Irving found out he was undocumented when he was 12 years old. At first he didn't believe it because he said there is nothing about him that wasn't American. Then, as he got older, he realized he couldn't get a driver's license, he couldn't work, he couldn't save money for college, but he didn't give up.

In high school, Irving maintained a 4.0 grade point average. He was a member of the Honor Society and the student council. He served as president of the school's chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America, played varsity basketball and tennis.

Because of his accomplishments, Irving was accepted into the University of Texas at Austin. In college, he served as director of the Hispanic Business Students Association, and under his leadership, the group adopted a street to clean. Irving organized events for underrepresented high school students and middle school students and volunteered at an orphanage every Thanksgiving.

He graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelor's degree in business administration. Thanks to DACA--created by President Obama and then eliminated by President Trump later--Irving was able to put his degree to work. For the last 3 years, he has worked as an information technology business analyst at General Motors. He creates software systems for one of the largest automakers in the United States.

He wrote me a letter, and here is what he said:

I've always felt completely American. I've been here since I was 7 months old. It's the only place I know and the only place I've ever considered home. Being an American is not something that is just given to you; it's about the work you put in. . . . I feel that I have contributed to America.

I do too. It would be an American tragedy to deport someone like Irving, who has overcome so many obstacles and has so much to contribute to our country. People like Irving Calderon are the reason more than 400 business leaders signed a letter to Congress urging us to pass a bipartisan Dream Act. The letter and these business leaders say:

Dreamers are vital to the future of our companies and our economy. With them, we grow and create jobs. They are part of why we will continue to have a global competitive advantage.

President Trump created this crisis, but instead of working toward a solution, he has sabotaged every effort we have tried to make on behalf of Dreamers. Now it is up to Republican leaders in Congress to take yes for an answer and accept any one of the six bipartisan solutions we put on the table to save these young people.

Congress should do our job and make the Dream Act the law of the land, or we will be responsible for forcing hundreds of thousands of talented young immigrants out of the workforce and putting them at risk of immediate deportation.

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