Lucille Roybal-Allard: “This bill isn't just an assault on Dreamers who grew up in our communities and except on paper, are Americans in every…”

“This bill isn't just an assault on Dreamers who grew up in our communities and except on paper, are Americans in every way. It's not just an attack on their parents who raised them and taught them their values and love of this great country. What it is, is an affront to everyone who believes in the American Dream and our American values. It is an affront to those who uphold and subscribe to the basic notion that America is a fair, compassionate, and welcoming nation. It is unconscionable that this bill will condemn Dreamers and their parents to second-class status. It is unconscionable that this bill will cruelly foreclose any possibility that Dreamers and their parents could adjust their status, regardless of how hard they work or how much they contribute to their communities and our country. If deported, their loss will be America's loss as we will lose the benefits of their talents and their ability to strengthen our economy and enrich our nation. If we end DACA, our country could lose young people like Paola, a medical student from Los Angeles, to cure the sick. We would lose Andree, a brilliant young woman who is also from LA, who is studying at Harvard and dreams of one day curing cancer. President Clinton once observed that ``we cannot build our own future without helping others to build theirs.'' That sentiment--the basic awareness that we're all in this together-- is at the center of the American Dream, a Dream which is threatened by the bill before us.…”