On the recordJanuary 17, 2018
I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stand with the DREAMers, both those living throughout the great San Joaquin Valley whom I have the honor and the privilege to represent, as well as those across the entire United States. We in the valley--as we like to say--and throughout our Nation are, let us remember, a nation of immigrants, past and present. So we know the integral role, both historically and today, that immigrants have played throughout the great history of our Nation in terms of the development of our economy and our communities. The contributions that have been made are the story of America. And our DREAMers, these young immigrants, also make immense contributions, and their story is a part of America's story. It is estimated that roughly 685,000 of our Nation's workers, our DREAMers, with protections through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, that if we, in fact, remove them as some are maybe suggesting, it would impact over $460 billion to our Nation's economy, to our GDP. Think about that. In my home State of California, it is estimated that there are over 193,000 DREAMers who are currently legal, who are working and contributing with these DACA protections, and that removing them from the workforce in California would cost an estimated $11.6 billion to the GDP of California. Does this make any sense? No.…
