Campaign Action
More than 400 groups and organizations, including Daily Kos, are rallying behind legislation set to go before the House Judiciary Committee this week. The Dream and Promise Act would put Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Temporary Protected Status, and Deferred Enforced Departure holders onto a path to legalization and eventual citizenship. “There are many parts of the immigration system that urgently need fixing,” the letter to House leaders states, “but protecting Dreamers and beneficiaries of TPS and DED cannot wait.”
All three immigrant groups have seen their protections under threat by the Trump administration. Had the courts not intervened, as many as 1 million immigrants would have lost protections and become vulnerable to deportation, including thousands of Liberian DED holders, who would have lost their status on March 31. But while the courts have mostly halted the administration’s actions, these families won’t be able to breathe freely until those protections become permanent.
“These individuals live in every state and every congressional district,” the letter continues. “They are our classmates and our teachers, our coworkers and our employers. They worship with us and help to keep us safe.” Protecting them is an American issue, because they are American families: “Between them, they have nearly 500,000 U.S. citizen children, not to mention many hundreds of thousands more U.S. citizen parents, spouses, and siblings, all of whom are suffering already and will suffer still more if the Trump administration is successful in ending their protections.”
They include people like Christina Wilson, a Liberian DED holder and nursing assistant, who during a March press conference described the anguish she and many others regularly endure. “Every year we must worry that DED will be renewed or not. Some nights I don’t sleep. I just wake up and try to think what’s going to happen next.” Behind her, other DED holders openly wept as they also worried about their own future here. They deserve better. They deserve the Dream and Promise Act, and now.
”It is long past time to recognize that these individuals are part of the American family and merit protection from deportation, permanent status, and a path to eventual citizenship,” the letter continues. “They and their families and communities at long last deserve the peace of mind to be able to plan ahead and make a better life that others take for granted. We stand ready to work with you to quickly pass this common-sense legislation.”