It's Past Time for Congress to Act, We Must Protect Dreamers

Press Release

On the 9th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, co-chaired a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing examining the urgent need to pass the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021.

During the hearing, Padilla called out the continued failure of Congress to act to protect Dreamers and highlighted the urgent need for the Senate to provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients. California is home to more than 250,000 DACA and TPS recipients, the most of any state in the nation.

Padilla began his questioning by asking the former Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Leon Rodriguez, about the broad consensus among Americans in support of the DACA program, which has enabled it to remain in place even in the face of relentless litigation against the policy. Padilla went on to question Rony Ponthieux, a registered nurse at Jackson Memorial Hospital and TPS holder from Haiti. He highlighted that while Mr. Ponthieux's immigration status as a TPS holder is in limbo, his son is bravely serving our country in the U.S. Army.

Padilla concluded by criticizing Republican committee members' attempts to distract from the need to provide relief to DACA recipients by perpetuating false claims about migration at the southern border.

Senator Padilla has been a vocal advocate for Dreamers and TPS holders and recently joined Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in calling on the Biden administration to address the extreme backlog for DACA applicants and reduce wait times for DACA renewals.

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