Dick Durbin: “I thank the Presiding Officer. I would have gladly yielded to my friend from Arizona but a higher order prevails. As a…”

“I thank the Presiding Officer. I would have gladly yielded to my friend from Arizona but a higher order prevails. As a senior at Berkeley, Denisse cofounded Pre-Health Dreamers, a national organization of undocumented students who want to become health care professionals. She volunteers at the San Francisco General Hospital Community to Clinic Linkage Program, where she helps patients who are seeking affordable housing, healthy food, and employment. In 2012, when President Obama established DACA--its third anniversary today--her life changed. As a DACA recipient, Denisse's dreams finally seemed within reach. In this picture I have in the Chamber, Denisse is holding her letter of acceptance to Mount Sinai Medical School in New York. She will be in classes this fall. She wrote me a letter. She said: I have pledged allegiance to this nation's values since my first day of school; I consider the United States my home. Furthermore, serving others has instilled in me the notion that everyone deserves the opportunity for prosperity. I thus aim to dedicate my life to serving others as a physician and continuing to be a voice for immigrants. Would America be a better country if she were deported? Would we be better as a nation if Denisse Rojas was told: Leave. We don't need you. We don't want you. The fact that you have spent your entire life here means nothing. The fact that you are an exceptional student means nothing. Leave.…”