3rd Anniversary of DACA Program

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Madam President, I would like to take a few minutes to shift gears to another issue of great importance. This issue is more hopeful. On June 15, 2012, President Obama enacted DACA--or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals--granting deferred action to DREAMers all across the country. Three years later, almost 700,000 hard-working young people are proof that deferred action works.

DACA has changed the lives of countless students who were brought to our country as undocumented children through no fault of their own. The President's action has been truly transformative for many young people in Hawaii. Let me tell you about three such young people.

Gabriela emigrated from Brazil with her family at the age of 15. Despite a 3.8 GPA in high school, she found herself unable to go to college because she lacked required documentation. After receiving DACA, Gabriela enrolled in a community college, paying instate tuition, and is receiving her associate's degree in the spring of 2015 and transferring to the University of Hawaii to earn her bachelor's degree. Receiving DACA was a life-changing moment for Gabriela because it enabled her to do everyday things that she was never able to do before, such as getting a driver's license, opening a bank account, renting her own apartment. It also enabled her to get an education, start a career, and live up to her full potential.

Sam was born in Tonga and brought to Hawaii when he was only 4 years old. His parents petitioned for residency for the whole family. But as a result of a slow and ineffective immigration system, Sam was over 18 years old by the time their petition became current. As a result, 18-year-old Sam was put into deportation proceedings and came very close to being torn away from his family and deported to a country he no longer remembered. Thankfully, the President announced the DACA Program and Sam was granted a stay of deportation and allowed to remain with his family. Today, Sam works as a music director at his church and is currently saving money to return to school and seek his dream of higher education.

Shingai is a DREAMer from Zimbabwe, who immigrated to the United States when he was 12. He did not find out he was undocumented until he graduated from high school and decided to apply for college. Shingai was a star football athlete and won a full football scholarship to go to college. Unfortunately, with stardom came immediate attention. Due to his undocumented status, he was forced to quit his dream and protect himself and his family from the public eye. Shingai knew the importance of education, so he pursued his degree a few classes at a time. This semester, he is finally set to graduate and earn a bachelor's in political science from Hawaii Pacific University. Receiving DACA has enabled Shingai to come out of the shadows and share his story in order to raise awareness and empower immigrant youth in Hawaii.

These DREAMers no longer have the fear of deportation and family separation hanging over their heads each and every day. DACA recipients are now free to live their lives, to seek an education and work as teachers, engineers, enter our armed services, become business owners.

DACA is life-changing for these young people, but it also has helped all Americans.

Forty-nine percent of DREAMers who were granted DACA were able to open their first bank account, 33 percent were able to obtain a credit card, 60 percent have been able to gain new jobs, contributing to our tax base and our economy. Experts estimate that all deferred action recipients will add $230 billion to our gross domestic product in the next decade. Quite simply, DACA works.

The American public stands with our DREAMers and immigrant families and smart policies like DACA. Over 70 percent of Americans reject the mass deportation approach favored by some and instead support the President's Executive action. However, DACA is only a temporary solution to address one part of our broken immigration system. It is not a substitute for comprehensive immigration reform.

It has been roughly 2 years since the Senate passed an immigration reform bill with strong bipartisan support. After House Republicans refused to act on comprehensive immigration reform, President Obama built on the success of DACA to use his well-established Executive authority to expand the DACA Program and create a new program for the parents of children born as U.S. citizens. I strongly support the President's action.

Both of these programs could be up and running, helping families and individuals, millions of them, but for a lawsuit filed by some Republican Governors opposed to immigration reform. We must continue fighting to provide relief for millions of parents who should be signing up for DAPA right now, paying their fees and applying for work permits, additional young people who qualify for DACA as well as millions of other hard-working families facing deportation every single day in our country.

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