New York, NY-On Wednesday, New York Representatives Nydia Velázquez and Yvette D. Clarke joined Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA) in reintroducing the Dream and Promise Act. The legislation allows many individuals brought to the country as children and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) beneficiaries to earn lawful permanent residence and eventual citizenship.
The bill would provide legalization to an estimated 2 million undocumented young people—including roughly 28,000 Dreamers and more than 50,000 TPS recipients in New York State. According to a Quinnipiac poll, by a margin of 83 - 12%, Americans support allowing undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to remain in the United States and eventually apply for citizenship.
Murad Awawdeh and Rovika Rajkishun, interim Co-Executive Directors of the New York Immigration Coalition, released the following statement.
“We thank Representatives Yvette Clarke and Nydia Velázquez for their introduction of the Dream and Promise Act and offering renewed hope to millions of immigrants who call the U.S. home and are essential to our communities. The bill marks a vital first step in our fight for immigrant justice by providing much-needed relief and stability for nearly 100,000 New Yorkers. For decades, our movement fought for this historic legislation to protect countless families from the whims of whoever sat in the White House. The last four years revealed the brutal cost of inaction.
While there is much to celebrate in this legislation, we are deeply disappointed that this bill includes harmful provisions that criminalize communities of color and unfairly exclude many people from relief. We urge Democratic leaders to remove the bars and penalties that compound racial disparities and anti-Blackness in the criminal legal system. Then, we implore Congress, including Majority Leader Schumer, to use whatever means necessary to act swiftly to pass this historic bill.”