On the recordFebruary 13, 2025
Today, I rise to remind my colleagues who Dreamers are. Dreamers and DACA recipients came to this country as young children by no fault of their own. They follow the law and pay taxes. They are nurses, teachers, police officers, and police chiefs. There are Dreamers like Dr. Oliver Lopez, a professor of mathematics at Chapman University in my district. What America needs are more STEM degrees. What America needs are more STEM instructors. We need more people like Dr. Oliver Lopez. Dreamers are also people like Officer Mitchell Soto-Rodriguez, a police officer in Blue Island, Illinois. She dreamed of being a police officer all her life. She achieved her dream because of DACA. Officer Soto-Rodriguez and Dr. Lopez are essential pillars of our community. They are Dreamers, and they deserve an opportunity to earn the American Dream. ____________________
