Amy Klobuchar: “I rise to join my colleagues in expressing my support for taking action on the Dream Act, as well as to express my…”

“I rise to join my colleagues in expressing my support for taking action on the Dream Act, as well as to express my continued opposition to the administration's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. I thank my colleague Senator Durbin for organizing today's remarks, as well as for his years of leadership and tireless advocacy on behalf of the Dreamers, along with Senator Graham, who is leading this very important bill with Senator Durbin. It is critically important that the Senate pass the Dream Act and not wait any longer to take action. There are 22,000 eligible DACA recipients who did not meet the administration's deadline to renew their statuses, and as a result, about 122 Dreamers are now losing their DACA statuses every day. That is more than 11,000 who have already lost their statuses as of today, and that number will continue to increase every single day that we fail to act. This is nothing on which we can wait--wait a week, wait 1 month, wait 2 months. Every single day, it affects more people. So, while some have suggested that we wait until March to fix this issue, the reality is that the Senate needs to take action now. Since it was first established in 2012, DACA has helped nearly 800,000 young people who have lived since childhood in the United States to better contribute to their families and communities, including more than 6,000 who are in my State.…”