Today, Senators Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin introduced a new version of the DREAM act, a bi-partisan bill granting legal status and a path to citizenship to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children. The legislation serves as a response to ten attorneys general calling on the White House to end the DACA program by September 5th.
Steven Choi, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) responds:
"With the future of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) hanging in the balance, today’s reintroduction of the DREAM Act provides the Trump administration an opportunity to do what is right for the more than 800,000 young people who grew up in this country and have legal permission to live here. As the Administration has indicated plans to push over 1.2 million people back into the shadows by ending the DACA and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programs, we call on Congress to create a comprehensive pathway to citizenship for those who are already an integral part of our communities.
As Senator Graham said to his fellow Republicans, "now is the moment for reckoning." We call on New York's congressional delegation to support these efforts and stand up for what truly makes America great: opportunity and justice for all."
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The New York Immigration Coalition is an umbrella policy and advocacy organization for nearly 200 groups in New York State that work with immigrants and refugees.The NYIC aims to achieve a fairer and more just society that values the contributions of immigrants and extends opportunity to all by promoting immigrants’ full civic participation, fostering their leadership, and providing a unified voice and a vehicle for collective action for New York’s diverse immigrant communities.