In Nevada, approximately 13,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are living their lives in limbo. Unless Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell move on the bipartisan DREAM Act within the next two weeks, young immigrants like Maria stand to lose their work permits, driver’s licenses, and protection from deportation. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada shared her story in a floor speech this week:
They are young people like Maria, a Dreamer who was brought to the United States when she was four years old.
Now twenty-two, she is working as a teacher and director of the infant/toddler program at a Montessori school in Washoe County. She already has an Associate’s degree, but she plans to enroll in the University of Nevada, Reno, to pursue a Bachelor’s in education, human development, and family studies.
Maria sent me a letter to tell me her story. She wrote, “I, as a Dreamer, am being truly affected by not knowing what will happen with my future. Since we moved here, I have learned what the meaning of true work ethic is and how to be a positive asset to our nation. Being a DACA recipient means I can never have a criminal record, I pay taxes, I have a great job teaching our youth, and am still working hard to continue my education…
I am here thanks to the selflessness and courage my mother showed, and I believe any parent would do the same for their children without hesitation. My mother followed all the rules to quickly become a true hard working member of this nation.”
Maria’s story is both an immigrant story and an American story. It’s a story about what happens when we give Dreamers a chance.
But it’s a chance that must come as soon as possible. It’s not just that voting on the DREAM Act before Congress adjourns for the holidays represents its best chance to pass; it’s that over 11,000 DACA recipients have already lost their protections, and every day that Republican leaders don’t act, 122 more will fall out of status. Real lives and families are on the line. “This is not just a crisis for these kids and their families,” Sen. Cortez Masto said, “it’s a crisis for our country.”
Passing the DREAM Act isn’t just an immigration issue, it’s an American issue. DACA recipients have grown up here, they’ve been educated here, they have U.S. citizen kids. They’re American in every way but on a piece of paper, and leaving Dreamers vulnerable to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents is to essentially condone the deportation of Americans. We must live up to our ideals as an immigrant nation and put immigrant youth on the path to citizenship they deserve. Sen. Cortez Masto:
Dreamers’ stories are no different from my own. My grandfather was born in Chihuahua, Mexico. He crossed the Rio Grande to come to this country. He served in our military, became a citizen, married my grandmother, and raised a family.
My father began his career as a parking attendant at the Las Vegas Dunes Hotel. He worked his way up through the ranks to become the first Latino on the Clark County Commission and then President of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
My mom and dad worked all their lives so that my sister and I could become the first in our family to earn a college degree.
My family taught me that when someone opens a door for you, you hold it open for the next person coming along after.
That’s what I’m here in the Senate to do. To make sure that every American gets that same opportunity my grandfather had. That my parents had. That my sister and I had.
And as Sen. Cortez Masto notes, passing the DREAM Act isn’t just about helping young immigrants thrive, it’s also about beating back anti-immigrant nativism. As we saw in Virginia and Alabama, collective power can trump hate. Now, we must win for Dreamers. “We are facing another watershed moment in our country’s history. People will ask, where were you, when Dreamers’ lives were hanging in the balance? Did you use your voice? Did you speak out? It’s time to stop this cycle.”
“It’s time to recognize that Dreamers are Americans,” she concludes. “That their stories are no different from any of ours. That by taking away their protections, by allowing them to return to the shadows, we are allowing a vicious cycle to grind 800,000 dreams into the dust. It’s time to learn from the mistakes of our predecessors. We must pass the Dream Act before the end of the year.” If you haven’t yet today, call Speaker Ryan and Sen. McConnell to demand the DREAM Act now.