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Courtesy FWD.us
Battle lines are being drawn in regards to Trump decision to end DACA. HMG-CN will publish statements from local elected officials as we receive them.
Pasadena, CA – Today President Trump rescinded the Obama-era legislation, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA granted undocumented immigrants who entered the country as children two years of renewable deferred action from deportation and eligibility for work permits. There are currently more than 800,000 DACA recipients in the United States and more than 200,000 in California. ”Trump’s rescinding of the DACA program, which protects 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants from deportation is a betrayal to the DACA recipients who make our country and state so special. These 800,000 young people — including 200,000 in California — deserve to become lawful, productive members of our society. I will not turn my back on the Dreamers or be on the side of division and hate and urge Congress to save the program.”
Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Linda Sánchez (CA-38), Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, released the following statement on President Trump’s rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program which protected from deportation immigrants who arrived in the United States as children:
“President Trump’s rescission of the DACA program marks his cruelest action yet against our immigrant – especially the Latino immigrant – community living in the United States. These DREAMers have lived here almost their entire lives, have integrated into our communities, and have become a part of our American fabric. They see themselves as American in every sense of the word besides having the piece of paper to prove it. Repealing DACA is a foreclosure on the American Dream for nearly a million children and young adults who consider this country their only home.
“This is nothing more than a political decision to appease the extreme factions in his party and includes no good-faith effort to fix our broken immigration system. Since the president has shown his outright hostility to the Latino community, it is time for Republicans to step up and pass the DREAM Act to protect DACA program recipients from deportation and create a legal path towards citizenship for undocumented youth.”
(WASHINGTON, DC) Today, Rep. Grace F. Napolitano condemned President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program with a six-month delay period, issuing the following statement:
“DACA has opened the door for the nearly 800,000 DREAMers who have come forward, passed background checks, and have been granted permission to live and work legally in America without the fear of being deported. Many have already been able to fulfill their dreams of attending and completing college and are working legally, paying taxes and contributing to their communities. Over three-quarters of a million young people kept their promise to the only nation they know and love, only to see that nation turn its back on them. This is unconscionable.
“Instead of working with Congress to find a solution, President Trump cowered to the most extreme, divisive voices in our country. With a change of heart from the compassion he pledged to show to DACA recipients, he is now stripping away their protection and peace of mind while heightening their fears. It is what many Congressional Republicans long sought to do: undercut the stability, hope, and opportunity that the DACA program offered to millions of children. We fought tirelessly against these attacks and will not rest until justice is delivered. We stand with these courageous DREAMers who deserve our support and every opportunity to succeed. Congress must act urgently to protect DREAMers and immigrant families from this heartless decision by the President.”
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40), the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee and the co-chair of the Women’s Working Group on Immigration Reform, issued the following statement about the president’s DACA decision:
“The president’s action to end DACA in six months is outrageous. This is a heartbreaking day for our country, and for the bright young DACA recipients who know no home but America. Our country needs these young people and their talents more than ever to strengthen our economy and our society. President Trump’s decision to end DACA is cruel, destructive, and un-American. The United States is a nation built in large part by the contributions, innovations, and inventions of immigrants. The president’s action against DACA only weakens the United States.
“I will continue fighting in Congress to pass legislation that will permanently protect DACA recipients before the six months expire. That is why I have joined Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in introducing the DREAM Act of 2017, a bipartisan bill allowing U.S.-raised immigrant youth to earn lawful permanent residence and American citizenship. And it is why I have helped introduce the American Hope Act of 2017, which creates a path to permanent legal status and eventual citizenship for DACA recipients and all qualifying DREAMers brought to the US as children. I call on my fellow congressmembers to join me in supporting these bills, so that we may help these American youth continue to strengthen our country.”
SACRAMENTO – Senator Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) issued the following statement after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced this morning the Trump Administration’s decision to end the DACA program:
“As State Senator representing the Inland Empire and the state with the most Dreamers, I find it appalling that President Trump would take this misguided action on DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). These young people enrich our local communities, strengthen our country and are a reflection of the values that make America great. To shut the door of the country they call home in their face is not only wrong—it is inhumane and contrary to who we are as Americans. I will fight alongside our federal and state representatives in the weeks and months ahead to ensure that Dreamers are able to continue living, working, studying and making a life for themselves and their families in the United States.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Vista) released the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program:
“When President Obama unilaterally created DACA, he unlawfully overstepped his executive authority and only put a temporary band-aid on a problem which prolonged uncertainty for many children brought here through no fault of their own. The Administration’s decision today puts the onus on Congress to address this challenge in the right way: for the long-haul, with respect for our nation’s laws, a desire to enhance the integrity of our borders, and a sense of compassion for those who were brought here in their childhood years ago and wish to stay as productive members of our communities. I’m eager to get to work on a permanent fix and call on Democrats and Republicans alike to immediately put political posturing aside and let this be a catalyst to achieve long-overdue reforms in this important area of concern.”
(Sacramento) –Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) released the following statement after President Trump moved today to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program:
“#45’s decision to end DACA shows further that he has no regard for Latinos. His actions are malicious to the thousands of our best and brightest students who have been raised as Americans and are perusing the American Dream.”
“America is first and foremost a nation of immigrants who came to this land to pursue their dreams an built this country in the quest for human justice. This President has ensconced racism in the fabric of our country’s history in the most un-American way I’ve witnessed in my life.
“I urge our representatives in D.C. to take action so that we may reaffirm the United States as a beacon of hope and not a nation of moral bankruptcy.”
President Trump targets young immigrants who positively contribute to our country and seizes from them the promise of the American Dream for all.
Los Angeles, CA — The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), the largest immigrant rights organization in California, expressed disgust and outrage at the announcement that DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program which protects nearly 900,000 young immigrants from deportation, will be ended by the Trump Administration.
The following are comments for Angelica Salas, CHIRLA Executive Director.
“President Trump has cowardly put an end to a golden opportunity for so many young, promising immigrants. With a nod to the white nationalist agenda, the Trump Administration has killed the only available immigration relief option for this vibrant and bilingual cohort of young people who contribute in so many ways to the strength and vigor of this country.
Ending DACA is cruel and unusual punishment targeting a vulnerable population who has done everything in their power to belong and give back to the only country they know as home.
For nearly 900,000 young immigrants, DACA signifies a lifeline, a shining beacon of hope in the midst of a shadowy immigration limbo perpetuated by politics, xenophobia, and a cruel anti-immigrant stance by Republicans in Congress.
For decades, we have guided all these young people in the path of rightfulness, taught them to be responsible, and to believe in their government. Today, the United States of America has failed and betrayed a whole generation of young people and history will sternly judge the President who presided over this cruelty.
Thus far, we do not know the specifics of how DACA will be terminated. We know for certain the absence of this protection will mean a serious disruption to these young people’s lives, anxiety in their communities, and a loss for employers, large and small, and the local, state and national economies which have come to depend on the contributions of DACA recipients. Today, President Trump is sentencing these young men and women to live shrouded by the ugly world of politics, holding them hostage for a more nefarious and dastardly purpose: more money to fund a vanity wall and more enforcement to deport even more immigrants.
President Trump has flagrantly sullied our American values and ideals with this decision. But Congress has failed to pass the DREAM Act not once but three times and it has refused to approve comprehensive immigration reform for nearly two decades. Will Congress feel compelled this time around to act and approve a clean, stand-alone bill to protect and bring justice to young immigrants and their families? Let’s hope so.
We will keep up the fight for a fair and humane immigration system and we will carry the torch of strength and resistance which has been the hallmark of the young immigrant rights movement. CHIRLA has worked with young immigrants for a decade and a half and we will feed off your passion and incredible unwillingness to give up your hopes, aspirations, and dreams, which as it turns out, are also America’s.”
WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten released the following statement on President Trump’s decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects more than 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children:
“The young people covered by DACA are woven into our communities—learning in, working in, defending and contributing to the country that is their home. Offering protection to DACAmented immigrants was done based on the understanding that America is stronger when we value people and create opportunity to achieve the American dream, regardless of demography or geography.
“President Trump made a promise that he would treat Dreamers with ‘great heart.’ Now, for seemingly political reasons, he is breaking his promise to students, teachers, doctors, nurses and lawyers who took him at his word. This is not the America I know—an America that says one thing to its citizens and then does another. Betraying DACA Dreamers is betraying the values of our diverse and welcoming nation. America will not be stronger or more secure when these young people are torn away from the country they love and call their own. America will be diminished—and the toll will be measured by families ripped apart, people cast into the shadows and into poverty, businesses upended, economies weakened and dreams shattered.
“As children return to school, many carry with them constant, crippling terror and uncertainty because of their immigration status. Children should be free to learn and live without fear. Inhumane immigration policies deprive them of that freedom.
“President Trump has an opportunity to lead on this issue. The time has come for the president and Congress to offer comprehensive solutions to our broken immigration system. We must defend DACA now, but we know the enduring work is to provide pathways to citizenship for millions of students, families and neighbors working and living alongside us, which includes passing the bipartisan Dream Act of 2017.
“The AFT will continue to fight to protect undocumented students, refugees, individuals with temporary protective status, and their families from the threat of deportation. A nation built by immigrants should welcome those in pursuit of the American dream, not pull up the ladder behind us.”
