Daca
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it has been exactly 90 days since the Supreme Court rejected President Trump's effort to end deportation protection for Dreamers. Dreamers, of course, are young immigrants who came to the United States as children, toddlers, or infants and who grew up in this country believing they were part of America, only to learn when they were old enough to be told, as teenagers, that they were undocumented through no fault of their own.
In an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court held that the President's attempt to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, was ``arbitrary and capricious.''
It was 10 years ago that I joined with then-Republican Senator Dick Lugar, of Indiana, on a bipartisan basis, to call on President Obama to use his legal authority to protect Dreamers from deportation. President Obama heard our call. He responded by creating the DACA Program. DACA provides temporary protection to Dreamers from deportation on a 2-year basis, which is renewable if they register with the government, pay a fee, and pass criminal and national security background checks. More than 800,000 Dreamers came forward to sign up for DACA.
DACA unleashed their full potential, and they could see there might be a future. They began to contribute to our country as soldiers, teachers, and small business owners. More than 200,000 DACA recipients are essential critical infrastructure workers. That is not my choice of words. It is the definition of President Trump's Department of Homeland Security. More than 200,000 DACA recipients are essential critical infrastructure workers. Among these essential workers, 41,700 DACA recipients are in healthcare. They are doctors, intensive care nurses, paramedics, and respiratory therapists.
Despite this incredible story of these innocent children coming to the United States while not having legal status in this country but having fear of deportation and still being determined to be part of America's future, as well as the fact that they would serve our country as essential workers and healthcare workers, on September 5, 2017, President Trump repealed DACA. Hundreds of thousands of Dreamers faced losing their work permits and being deported to countries they may not even remember.
The Federal court stepped in and ordered the Trump administration to continue DACA for Dreamers who had already received this protection. However, Dreamers who had not already received DACA were blocked from applying from this protection for nearly 3 years while the case languished in court. The Center for American Progress estimates that approximately 300,000 Dreamers had been unable to apply for the program because the case was in court.
On June 19, the day after the Supreme Court rejected President Trump's repeal of DACA, I led a letter from 43 Democratic Senators to the President. We called on the President to follow the law, to immediately comply with the Supreme Court's decision and reopen DACA for those who were eligible to apply. It has been 3 months now. We haven't received any response from President Trump, and the Trump administration refuses to reopen DACA.
In July, a Federal judge issued an order for the Trump administration to begin receiving new applications for DACA. Instead, Acting--and let me underline ``Acting''--Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf has issued a memo saying that the DHS will ``reject all initial requests for DACA.''
Let's be clear. The Supreme Court of the United States rejected President Trump's repeal of DACA. That means DACA returns to its original status, and the Trump administration, under Court order, must reopen the program, and it must do it now. Instead, Mr. Wolf is saying the DHS will turn away 300,000 applicants who are Dreamers who are eligible for DACA but who have not had a chance to apply.
It is important to note that the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office has concluded that Acting Secretary Wolf is illegally serving. This calls into serious question any legal authority he claims in issuing a memo to refuse to reopen DACA.
This administration, which is telling America it is dedicated to law and order, is in open defiance of the Supreme Court. The stakes are high both for the rule of law and, just as importantly, for the lives of Dreamers. To ignore this is to ignore a legitimate order of the highest Court in the land. Republicans and Democrats in Congress should come together to compel this President to follow the law and immediately comply with the Supreme Court's mandate.
On June 4 of last year, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act. This legislation would give Dreamers a path to citizenship--my goal for years. It passed on a strong bipartisan vote. It has been pending in the Senate, sitting on the desk of Republican leader Mitch McConnell, for more than 12 months.
After the Supreme Court decision, I sent a letter, signed by all 47 Democrats, calling on Senator McConnell to immediately give us a vote on the Dream and Promise Act. It has been 3 months. Still no reply.
The Dream and Promise Act would also provide a path to citizenship for 400,000 immigrants who have been living in the United States on temporary protected status. More than 90 percent of them are originally from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti. Most of them have lived in the United States for over 20 years.
As with DACA, TPS recipients must register with the government, pay a fee, and clear criminal and national security background checks. Like DACA recipients, TPS recipients are making important contributions to America. More than 130,000 TPS holders are essential critical infrastructure workers, and 11,600 are healthcare workers.
My friend, the Senator from Arkansas, just came to the floor and lauded our healthcare heroes across America in the midst of this pandemic. I have given that same speech. I think we all have, and we mean it. Yet did you ever stop and think how many of those healthcare workers are the DACA recipients, Dreamers, TPS holders--the so-called immigrants--whom we want to reject and remove from this country? We praise them on one hand, and we tell them to get the heck out of the United States on the other. How can that be consistent?
Two years ago, I negotiated bipartisan legislation with a path to citizenship for DACA and TPS recipients. President Trump profanely dismissed our bill in an Oval Office meeting that has now become infamous. Instead, the President is trying to rescind TPS protections and deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants from our country.
A Federal judge concluded that the President broke the law and blocked his effort to end TPS. Earlier this week, in a divided decision, two Republican-appointed judges ruled the other way and lifted the injunctions. This decision makes it even more important that the Senate immediately consider the Dream and Promise Act.
Over the years since I introduced the DREAM Act, I decided the only way to tell the story of this bill was to tell the story of the Dreamers. I have come to the floor 125 times to tell the stories. Today will be the 126th. I want to tell you the story of these two people. I will start with Esmeralda Tovar-Mora. In this photo, she is with her husband, whom I will talk about more in just a moment.
Esmerelda is the 126th Dreamer's story I have told in the Senate, and it is a good one. She came to the United States from Mexico at the age of 2, so she obviously had no voice in that decision. She grew up in Hutchinson, KS.
She sent me a letter, and here is what she said about growing up:
Growing up in the United States has been the only thing that I've known. Pledging allegiance to the American flag and singing the national anthem on a daily basis made me believe that I was truly American.
She was a good student--no, she was excellent. In high school, she was a member of the National Honor Society and president of the Key Club. She sang in her church choir and played on the tennis team. She graduated magna cum laude.
Esmerelda's experiences in the Key Club visiting nursing homes convinced her she wanted a career in healthcare.
Thanks to DACA--thanks to DACA--Esmerelda was able to work as a waitress to support herself through college. She is now a case manager at a mental health center and a medication aide in an Alzheimer's ward in Hutchinson, KS.
She is married to Michael Mora, seen in this picture. Specialist Mora serves in the Kansas National Guard and recently returned from a 9- month tour in the Middle East--National Guardsman, 9 months in the Middle East--serving a country that will not recognize his wife as a citizen.
Let me introduce you to someone else. This is special. This beautiful little girl is Esmerelda and Michael's daughter Rose. She just turned 4.
Esmerelda is on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, and here is what she said:
We've been on lockdown since March 30. Since family members can't visit, my patients are scared and lonely. Many have started asking me to call them Grandma or Grandpa, a little crumb of comfort at a time when the world around them is going crazy. I'm happy to be their adopted granddaughter. It eases the pain of scrubbing my hands until they're raw and the anxiety that I could infect my beautiful family. It also makes me happy to know that I am appreciated here in Hutchinson, because right now I've got an added stress: The U.S. government wants to deport me.
I want to thank Esmerelda for her service. She is truly a health hero--an immigrant health hero. She is a DACA health hero. She is putting herself and her family at risk every day to protect others-- Americans--loving members of families, and it may be their last day on Earth. She should not also have to worry about whether she is going to be deported and her family torn apart. Isn't it enough that her husband is serving our country to prove how much this family loves America?
Would we be stronger as a country if we tell Esmerelda Tovar-Mora to leave or if she becomes an American citizen and continues to work on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic? I don't think the answer is even hard. I think it is clear.
Esmerelda and hundreds of thousands of other Dreamers and TPS holders are counting on those of us in the Senate to solve this crisis that President Trump created.
I am sorry that Senate Republicans are ignoring President Trump's defiance of the Supreme Court and refusing to bring the Dream and Promise Act to the floor.
As long as I am a U.S. Senator, I will be coming to this floor to fight for Esmerelda Tovar-Mora and all immigrants. It would be an American tragedy to deport this brave and talented healthcare worker in the midst of this pandemic. We must ensure that Esmerelda and hundreds of others of our essential workforce are not forced to stop working when we need them more than ever, and we must give them a chance--just a chance--to earn their way to citizenship.
Mr. President, it has been my honor to represent Esmerelda and the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers over the years. They have never disappointed me--never.
Many times we brought to the floor of the Senate the Dream Act, bills containing the Dream Act. We have managed to pass them a few times but never at the same time as the House, so they have never become law. So for decades--literally for decades--these young people have waited for their chance. They have done everything they can possibly do to prove they love this country. What will it take to convince my colleagues? What will it take to convince them that losing this beautiful young woman, with this pretty little girl, Rose, and telling this man, who served our country in the Kansas National Guard in a 9-month tour of duty in the Middle East--what will it take to convince my Senate colleagues that these are worthy people to become American citizens?
Some of us just lucked out; we were born here. There was never a moment where we made a decision; we were Americans from the start. But for others, they have had to prove their way into this country. Hasn't this wonderful young woman proved her way into America? Hasn't she told us why she should be given the right to become--a great honor--a citizen of the United States of America?
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