Protect the Dreamers

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about our Dreamers and the need for Congress to work together now to protect them and provide legal status.

Simply put, Dreamers are Americans, just like you and I, and they should be treated as such. They came here, brought by their families at a very early age: 2, 3, 4 years of age. For them, this is the only country they have ever known.

They are our friends, our neighbors, and members of our churches, synagogues, and mosques. They serve in the military and attend our schools and universities.

In my district alone, the 16th Congressional District in California in the San Joaquin Valley, there are over 1,200 Dreamers who are attending California State University, Fresno; the University of California, Merced; and thousands more who are attending our community colleges.

I have heard their stories, I have looked them in the eyes, and I have consoled them. They have great fear. They fear things that we would not probably think about, like driving to school and driving to work. They are fearful that they might be pulled over because maybe their vehicle has some sort of a violation, only to be pulled over and find out that they are not here legally.

The jobs that they have--many of them full-time jobs, good jobs--are threatened by potential audits to the employers who are seeking to determine whether or not they are here illegally or not.

Yet, in spite of all of those challenges, they work tirelessly to improve their education and to contribute to the betterment of their families and their local communities. They pay taxes. They give back.

After all, isn't that the American way?

They are the next generation of leaders in various regions throughout our communities, yet they are living in fear every day that they could be deported. They fear for their families, and they fear for their futures as they wait to see if they will be removed from the only home they have ever known.

Can you imagine being in a household where some members of your family are here legally, and some are not, and the notion that your family might be split apart, mother and father, brothers and sisters?

How horrific that must be.

They have trusted our government to uphold its word that we would give them protections under the DACA program. Now, of course, that is all under a cloud.

We must keep our promises. Living with this uncertainty is just not right. It is unfair, it is unjust, and it is not the American way.

My grandparents immigrated to this country, and they often faced many of the same challenges that our Dreamers live with every day. Our story, therefore--a nation of immigrants past and present--is their story. Their story, like my family, is the American story. It is a story of immigrants wanting to come here to have a better life for themselves and for their children.

So, therefore, I am unwavering in my support that we provide them legal status. We must let our Dreamers know that we stand with them and that we will not stop fighting for them. A majority of Americans want legal protection for Dreamers. Congress must listen, and Congress must act. Hopefully, we will do that today.

So, Mr. Speaker, I stand here and say to my colleagues: Vote ``yes'' to pass the American Dream and Promise Act. It is the moral and right thing to do, and therefore we must do it now.

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