Immigration Funding
Floor Speech
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this evening I am joining with the Center for American Progress to host a screening of ``Spare Parts,'' a new movie that tells the story of four students at Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, AZ. These students were undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as kids. They started a robotics team at their high school that went on to great success. The movie itself was produced by actor and comedian George Lopez. He stars in it as the coach of the team; Jamie Lee Curtis as the high school principal; Carlos Pena, as Oscar Vazquez, one of the students; and Alexa Vega, as Oscar's girlfriend Karla.
I am especially excited about seeing the movie because I have known one of these students, Oscar Vazquez, for some time. Five years ago, I told Oscar's story here on the floor of the Senate. He dreamed of enlisting in the military and spent his high school years in junior ROTC. At the end of his junior year, a recruiting officer told him he could never serve in the military because he was undocumented. So Oscar found another outlet for his talent. He helped to start the robotics club at Carl Hayden High School.
Oscar and his three teammates entered a college-level robot competition, despite the fact they were high school kids, sponsored by NASA. They worked for months in a storage room in their high school to produce their competitive robot. They were competing against students from MIT and similar universities. The Carl Hayden High School team won first place in the robotic competition.
After high school, Oscar Vazquez went to Arizona State University, and in 2009 graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was one of the top three students in his class. Following his graduation, he took a brave step. He voluntarily returned to Mexico, a country where he had not lived since he was a small child. He said, ``I decided to take a gamble and do the right thing.''
In 2010, the Obama administration gave him a waiver to reenter the United States. Otherwise, he would have been barred for 10 years. He would have been separated from his wife Karla and their daughter Samantha, both of whom are American citizens.
Oscar returned to the United States with the waiver from President Obama and he did two things: He applied for citizenship and he enlisted in the United States Army.
Oscar served as a cavalry scout in Afghanistan, fulfilling the dream he had as a child, and when he became a citizen of this country he was obviously willing to risk his life for it.
Last year, Oscar testified at a hearing I held about the benefits of allowing immigrants to enlist in the military. The Falcon Robotics Team, which Oscar and his friends started, is now a fixture at Carl Hayden High School.
I have told the story about two other members of that team.
Dulce Matuz graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and as a senior received an internship to work at the NASA space station. After graduation, Dulce couldn't work as an engineer, so she cofounded the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition. As a result of her leadership, she was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine.
Angelica Hernandez served in junior ROTC and was president of the National Honors Society. She graduated from high school with a 4.5 GPA and graduated from Arizona State University with a mechanical engineering degree herself.
Why am I telling my colleagues about a movie called ``Spare Parts'' and the Carl Hayden robotics team? Because it puts a human face on what is happening today on Capitol Hill. It puts into perspective what the Republican-led House of Representatives wants to achieve this week. They are preparing to pass a bill in the House that would defund the President's immigration policies, including the very program--the DACA Program--that President Obama created by Executive order.
The DACA Program puts on hold the deportation of immigrant students such as those I have just described who grew up in this country and simply want a chance to be a part of our future. These young people--immigrants such as Oscar, Dulce, and Angelica--are known as DREAMers. They were brought to the United States as little kids. They didn't make a conscious effort to come across the border; they were brought here by their parents. They grew up in this country and they have overcome great obstacles to succeed. They are our future leaders. They will serve in the military. They will be doctors and engineers and lawyers and business leaders, if they are given the chance. The House of Representatives is determined not to give these DREAMers a chance to be part of America's future.
In the last 2 years, more than 600,000 DREAMers have stepped up, paid their fees, gone through the background checks, and were given this temporary status where they can't be deported. With that temporary status, they have gone on to do extraordinary things in this country. Many of them are already contributing. I mentioned Angelica, a former member of the Carl Hayden robotics team. She is working for Nexant Corporation where she specializes in renewable energy.
The Center for American Progress tells us that if we give legal status to these DREAMers, it will dramatically help our economy. These are great young people who want a chance to be a part of America's future. They can put $329 billion into our economy, according to the studies, and create about 1.4 million new jobs. These are the sparks, the catalysts, the leaders who can help us build this economy.
But the Republicans in the House of Representatives want to deport them. They want to turn them away after they have had these educational opportunities in America. They don't want us to take advantage of their skills and talents. They are wrong.
Why do they want to eliminate DACA? Why are the House Republicans so determined to eliminate it? Because that is their way of getting back at this President. That is their way of trying to make us forget that the House Republicans refused for 2 years to call up immigration reform legislation. They refused to fix our broken immigration system, and when the President stepped in on an emergency basis, now they are resisting him and trying to deport these DREAMers. How can they explain this? How can they explain this to these young people who, through no fault of their own, were brought to the United States and who have not had an opportunity to succeed, as we all hope they will? This is obstructionism on the part of the Republicans in the House. We did pass the bill on a bipartisan basis in June of 2013, 68 to 32, for comprehensive immigration reform. The House had ample opportunity--over a year and a half--to call up this measure and they refused. They refused because they knew it would pass. And that is why it is important for us to stand up and tell the American people what is at stake.
One of the most important things we can do is to face the reality that our immigration system is broken. And to fix this immigration system, we need to work together on a bipartisan basis. Let us not do it with a negative feeling toward these young people. Give the DREAMers a chance.
I will tell my colleagues this. If this bill comes over from the House of Representatives and this bill eliminates DACA, fate puts 1.6 million young DREAMers into the legal jeopardy of facing deportation, and then eliminates the rights of their parents who have children who are citizens or legal residents to stay in this country, then we are going to see a fight on the floor of the U.S. Senate. I think it is the responsible thing to do for us to stand up for these young people who had the courage to step out of the shadows, to register with their government, to submit themselves to a background check. The right and responsible thing to do is for us to stand behind them. There are so many amazing stories about these young people and to ignore them is to ignore America's legacy and roots.
We are a nation of immigrants. My mother was an immigrant to this country and I stand on the floor of the U.S. Senate honorably, I hope, representing the great State of Illinois, and really I hope a testament to what the sons of immigrants can do across America, and daughters as well. That is why this is an important issue for us to deal with and to do it forthrightly, and I urge my colleagues to resist this effort by the Republicans to deport 1.6 million eligible DREAMers and others who may stand the chance to make America a better and stronger nation.
I yield the floor.
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