Senator Rosen Urged Her Colleagues to Pass a Bipartisan Solution That Gives DACA Recipients a Pathway to Citizenship and Keeps Families Together
Watch Senator Rosen’s Full Remarks HERE.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) took to the Senate floor to mark the thirteenth anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and deliver a forceful defense of Nevada’s Dreamers in light of the Trump Administration’s attacks on immigrant communities across the country. Senator Rosen reaffirmed her commitment to do everything in her power to protect the more than 12,000 DACA recipients in Nevada who know no other home but the U.S., and she condemned Donald Trump’s repeated efforts to dismantle the program.
Senator Rosen also criticized Washington’s long-standing failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform, calling it unacceptable that DACA recipients continue to live in fear and uncertainty. She urged her colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stop using Dreamers as a political football and take immediate action to pass legislation that provides permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship.
Below are excerpts of Senator Rosen’s floor remarks:
As we approach the thirteenth anniversary of DACA, I rise today in strong support of this program and the thousands of Nevadans who rely on it.
My state of Nevada is home to more than twelve thousand DACA beneficiaries who know of no other country as their own.
They grew up in our communities and contribute to our nation and our economy.
They are our neighbors, our friends, and our family members.
Many of them are now even raising their own families here – sending their kids to school, taking them to soccer practice, and going to the park on weekends.
But Washington has failed them.
What started out as a temporary program – meant to protect Dreamers while Congress worked to pass a more permanent solution – has turned into a decades-long lifeline for so many.
Washington’s gridlock and its inability to pass comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers has left them to depend on DACA.
It has also opened the door to attacks from the Trump Administration and right-wing extremists…
During his first term, Donald Trump rescinded DACA and threw this critical program into a tail-spin… leaving the future of Dreamers and their families to depend on court case after court case.
Can anyone in this chamber imagine the stress, the fear, the uncertainty they have had to endure all of these years not knowing if they’d be separated from their families or not?
In his second term, Trump has been relentless in attacking and separating hardworking, law-abiding immigrant families… increasing fear and worry in our immigrant communities, including DACA recipients.
If DACA were to end, millions of Dreamers across our nation would be at risk of having to leave the only country they’ve ever known… the only place they’ve ever called home.
Parents would face separation from their children, leaving families forever traumatized.
And our economy and communities would gravely suffer.
And just imagine the message we would be sending….
Nevadans who have done everything right since they arrived in our state… Nevadans who were brought here as kids through no fault of their own, and who followed the rules when the government asked them to, followed the rules… Nevadans who have graduated college, Nevadans who have served in the military, and started businesses in our communities… Nevadans who are currently protected… could now lose the only life they have ever known.
So, Mr. President, it’s past time that politicians in Washington stop using Dreamers as a political football and finally pass a law that permanently protects them.
These hardworking Americans deserve to have peace of mind… and they deserve a life without fear.
I want Dreamers to know they have allies in their corner.
As Nevada’s Senator, I’ll do everything in my power to protect all of our communities and keep families together.
Since Day One in the Senate, I’ve been pushing my colleagues to come together in a bipartisan way to pass a permanent solution… one that gives Dreamers permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship. A pathway to citizenship now, while we continue to work on comprehensive immigration reform that this country so surely needs.
This shouldn’t be a partisan issue… and as long as I’m in the Senate, I won’t stop fighting for it.
I want everyone to know that in the meantime, I will continue to do everything in my power to protect DACA and the thousands of Nevadans who rely on it.
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