Lauren Heiberg
DACA allows immigrants who entered the country as children to live and work in the United States. Since its creation, DACA has helped more than 800,000 immigrants and more than 1.5 million people in the US live with a beneficiary of the program. Out of the current 650,000 DREAMers more than 200,000 work in frontline jobs putting their health and safety at risk for the benefit of a country that fails to give them the support and stability they deserve.
Recently Federal Judge Andrew S. Hanen declared that President Obama exceeded his authority when creating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. While this decision does not immediately take the protected status of DREAMers away, it puts their fate in the hands of either Congress or a Supreme Court with a 6-3 conservative majority. It also prevents the Department of Homeland Security from approving new applications.
DREAMers already face constant threats to their status with a required renewal process every two years and frequent legal challenges in the courts. This decision by Judge Hanen adds even more stress and uncertainty. DREAMer’s lives should not be put in the hands of the courts. Congress has the potential to provide them with a more stable and permanent solution. The House of Representatives recently passed the American Dream and Promise Act and it is headed to the Senate. This Act would create a way for DREAMers to earn permanent resident status and eventually citizenship. Although 74% of Americans favor a law that would create a pathway to permanent resident status for immigrants who entered the country as children, Congress has failed to create this pathway in the past. The last time Congress took action, the act passed in the House of Representatives only to be stopped in the Senate.
As the American Dream and Promise Act makes its way to the Senate, those 74% of Americans need to speak up and urge their Senators to act. Anyone can do this by signing petitions, such as this one, or cold calling their senators. To find the names and numbers of your current Senators use this link. The outline guides individuals on how to cold call their Senators about this pressing issue. Take action today to help ensure that DREAMer’s health and safety is not left in the hands of the courts.
Cold Calling Outline
Introduce yourself
Be sure to mention that you are a constituent and UCLA student
Include your zip code if you feel comfortable
Explain why you are calling
You can use this paragraph from the beginning of this post as an example:
As you may know, recently a federal judge in Texas declared the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program “unlawful.” This places the citizenship status of nearly one million long-time U.S. residents in danger and prevents the processing of new DACA applications.
Most DACA recipients have been living in the U.S. for years. Many are serving as first responders and essential workers, helping us get through the pandemic. They were brought here as kids, and many now have children of their own. A loss of their status followed by deportation could cause them to be separated from their U.S. citizen children and families.
Make the ask
Ex: "As a result I urge you, Senator ____ to cosponsor S. 264 - The American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 so that the undocumented individuals who have helped make our country a better place will have the well earned pathway to citizenship that they deserve"
Sources:
Comments