Political Quotes

“today is the fifth anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, known as DACA. DACA provides temporary legal status to immigrant students who arrived in the United States as children and infants, if they register with the government, pay a fee, and pass a criminal background check. The program is based on the DREAM Act, a piece of legislation I introduced 16 years ago in 2001. That legislation gave undocumented students who grew up in this country a chance to earn a path to legal status and citizenship. These young people have come to be known as DREAMers. What used to be a word reserved for rock-and-roll groups is now a word that has become part of our common language to describe an immigration challenge and opportunity. These DREAMers came to the United States as children. They are American in every way except for their legal immigration status. We have already invested a lot of money in these kids. We educated them. We made them part of this country, and it makes no sense to squander their talents by deporting them at this moment in their lives. In April 2010, I sent a letter to President Obama. Dick Lugar, the Republican Senator from Indiana, joined me. On a bipartisan basis, we said to President Obama: Stop deporting these young kids. They did nothing wrong. Their parents made the decision to come here. Give them a chance. The President responded.…”