Dream and Promise Act
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mrs. TRAHAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge this Congress to provide permanent relief to the Dreamers, Deferred Enforcement Departure, and Temporary Protected Status holders whose lives have been turned upside down by the Administration. We must pass H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act, without delay. Fourteen months ago, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it was ending TPS for nearly 200,000 Salvadorans in the United States. The Department's decision about Salvadorans' TPS was just the latest in a string of such announcements since the fall of 2017--which also threaten Sudanese, Haitian, and Nicaraguan immigrants. Families have been living in a state of fear and uncertainty for a year and a half, and for no good reason. Madam Speaker, I'd like to explain why this is not only cruel policy, but also unnecessary and short-sighted. Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Irma Flores. Irma is a community engagement specialist for the city of Somerville, Massachusetts, where she assists the Spanish-speaking community. She lives in Haverhill, in my District, with her daughter, who goes to school at UMass Boston. Her son graduated from Suffolk University with degrees in International Relations and Political Science. Irma, herself, studied International Relations in her native country at the University of El Salvador. However, she and her kids fled to the United States 18 years ago because of a devastating earthquake. For nearly two decades, the United States has been Irma's home and her children's home. The people of Somerville depend upon her; and she is a beloved part of the Haverhill community. It is estimated that there are more than 12,000 people living in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with Temporary Protected Status--half of whom are from El Salvador. However, people like Irma have had their lives upended by the callousness of the Administration's policy. If Irma's story isn't persuasive enough for Congress to act, consider the fact that the law, despite the Administration's claim, does not require her return. That's because we have the power to permit extensions if these residents are unable to return in safety. The United States does not--and should not--return people to disaster areas or warzones. In January, our State Department renewed its travel advisory to El Salvador. The warning reads: ``Violent crime, such as murder, assault, rape, and armed robbery, is common. Gang activity, such as extortion, violent street crime, and narcotics and arms trafficking, is widespread.'' These are not conditions under which families should be forced to return. But if the legal argument is not persuasive either, consider the fact that TPS holders contribute nearly $650 million to the Commonwealth's economy. One analysis found that if Salvadoran, Honduran, and Haitian workers with TPS were removed from the labor force, the United States would lose $164 billion in gross domestic product over the next decade. Again, Madam Speaker, this is cruel, unnecessary and shortsighted policy. This Congress should approve the Dream and Promise Act, which provides a permanent fix for Dreamers, DACA, and TPS recipients without delay, so that people like Irma and her family can remain safely here as members of our communities.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source