Daca

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I am here to join my colleagues--with thanks to them, most especially to Senator Durbin--to highlight the impact of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which for the last 13 years has benefited countless young people who have come to this country as infants or young children, brought by their parents before they could even speak any language, some of them, and many of them here knowing only English, only the neighborhoods where they live now, only this country as their home.

DACA has offered safety, security, and hope to thousands of people, including 3,000 active DACA recipients living in Connecticut alone. They are our friends and neighbors. They are students, nurses. They have all kinds of jobs that are important to our community and our State in Connecticut. They are key members of communities, having lived in the United States for an average of 26 years--that is right, 26 years on average. Ninety-one percent of DACA recipients in Connecticut participate in the Connecticut labor force.

Mr. President, 92 percent of DACA recipients have a high school diploma, and 81 percent have some college education. In Connecticut, 30 percent of DACA recipients are married, 17 percent have children, and there are 6,000 U.S. citizens living with DACA recipients.

Let me tell you the stories of two DACA recipients in Connecticut.

Agnes was brought to Connecticut when she was 9 years old. She worked hard in school and qualified for a Rotary Club scholarship to attend Western Connecticut State University. Because of DACA, she was able to obtain work authorization and get a job upon graduating college.

She says DACA eliminated the uncertainty she felt as a child and allowed her to pursue opportunities she otherwise would not have. She is now a U.S. citizen, married, with two beautiful boys. She owns a home. She manages a global team at a commodity trading company in Connecticut.

Another DACA recipient who also came to the United States when she was 9 years old said DACA was ``monumental.'' It gave her a sense of independence. It allowed her to build a future for herself that she wanted and aspired to have. She can't imagine what her life would have been like without it.

In 2009, before she graduated from college, she learned about the DREAM Act and was inspired to pursue advocacy work. She is now part of an organization in Connecticut called Connecticut Students for a Dream, working to help other Dreamers like her. Through her advocacy, she pushed for the passage of legislation in Connecticut that provided instate tuition access, institutional financial aid, and a college access program for undocumented students. Finally, after receiving DACA, she obtained her work authorization. She got a job overseeing a leadership program for Connecticut high school students.

These two remarkable stories are just two examples of the extraordinary impact that DACA recipients have on our community.

Last December, President Trump said:

We have to do something about the Dreamers.

He said:

We have to do something about the Dreamers. Republicans are very open to Dreamers.

I call on the administration to resume processing initial DACA applications outside of Texas, in line with the ruling from the Fifth Circuit. I call on this administration to do the right thing, to do what is legally open, what history encourages us to do. The history of this program shows the human potential of DACA recipients.

I encourage my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to come together with more permanent legislation for Dreamers. They give back. They contribute to our communities. They work tirelessly to do better. We owe them better. These Dreamers deserve to build a future in this country with the security and safety of permanent status and a path to citizenship.

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