Durbin Shares 153rd Dreamer Story On The Senate Floor
WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, shared his 153rd Dreamer story. During his time in Congress, Durbin has continuously shared stories of Dreamers—young people who have lived in America since they were children, built their lives here, and are American in every way except for their immigration status. Under current law, there is no pathway to citizenship for Dreamers.
“For 25 years, I have come to the Senate floor with a simple request—for Congress to protect children who know no other home than the United States of America. I first made this request after I heard from a constituent—a young high school graduate in Chicago and a brilliant piano prodigy. She was brought to the United States when she was only two years old and didn’t know how to fill out her college applications because of her undocumented status. I couldn’t believe our nation had no path to citizenship for young people like her, so I introduced a bill to change that,” said Durbin.
Durbin has introduced the Dream Act every Congress since 2001. The Dream Act is bipartisan legislation that would allow noncitizens without lawful status who were brought to the United States as children and meet certain education, military service, or work requirements to earn lawful permanent residence. This Congress, Durbin introduced the bill with U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
“I have pushed for this legislation to make them [Dreamers] legal in the eyes of the law—to be included in bipartisan legislation like the 2013 ‘Gang of Eight’ immigration bill, which passed the Senate with 68 votes. Over the years, the Dream Act passed the Senate, and it has passed the House of Representatives, but never at the same time so that we could send it to the President’s desk to be signed into law. As I near the end of my time in the Senate, Congress continues to fail these young people who are American in every sense of the word—not just to me, but to the vast majority of the country… In fact, 81 percent of Americans support citizenship for Dreamers, including 56 percent of Republicans,” Durbin continued.
In 2010, Durbin sent a letter, joined by the late Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), asking then-President Obama to stop the deportation of Dreamers. Fourteen years ago, President Obama responded by announcing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. More than 830,000 Dreamers have since come forward and received DACA, which has allowed them to contribute more fully to their country as teachers, nurses, doctors, engineers, and small business owners.
Durbin then spoke about Karen Montes Gaga—the 153rd Dreamer story he has told on the Senate floor. Karen arrived in Seattle from Mexico when she was just three years old and has been part of the DACA program since 2012. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in education. She also received her master’s in education curriculum and instruction.
“Karen has now been a proud elementary school teacher for almost a decade. She serves on her school’s leadership team and has been nominated twice for its Teacher of the Year award. As a DACA recipient, Karen is responsible for renewing her work permit every two years. But there is a problem. This year, she filed in a timely manner and expected her most recent renewal to be like every other one for the last 14 years. But this renewal process was different—the Trump Administration failed to process her DACA renewal on time, even though she filed months in advance. As a result, Karen’s work permit expired, and she was forced to leave behind her classroom and abandon her students in the middle of the academic year, for months at a time,” said Durbin.
“In a world of rising costs and inflation, losing a single paycheck could be the difference in keeping a roof over your head and food on the table. But you know what Karen was most worried about? Her 27 students that she had to leave behind,” said Durbin. “That [her students] are who this Administration and Republicans are failing. A teacher who is committed to instilling strong values and work ethic into her students and whose heart was broken when she could not. To my Republican colleagues, I ask you: if you went out looking for the ‘worst of the worst,’ would you choose Karen? If you want to remove from the United States rapist, murders, terrorists, child predators, would you identify Karen as one of those people? Of course not.”
Durbin concluded, “There is still time to help Dreamers in the final months of the 119th Congress. To all my Republican colleagues, please join me and Senator Murkowski in standing up for these young people who epitomize the true meaning of the American Dream. Stand up for Karen; stand up for her students; stand up for what is right. I may be leaving the Senate in a few months, but I am not leaving this fight.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.
-30-
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
