Campaign Action
Luz Chavez told Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand during a CNN presidential town hall Tuesday night that even though the U.S. is her home, she fears being sent “to a country that I barely know.” The Maryland college student is currently shielded from deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“Senator Gillibrand, I was four years old when I moved to the United States,” Chavez said. “I am now a college student at Montgomery College. I can’t imagine being deported to a country that I barely know, but our current immigration system provides no pathway to citizenship for me or my family.”
Even protections currently in place provide no long-term stability for young immigrants like her, because the DACA program, like the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) programs, have remained under ongoing threat by the Trump administration. Chavez asked Gillibrand what her administration would do to protect her and her family.
“I think what President Trump is doing is not only inhumane, but lacks vision and lacks leadership,” she responded, saying that she would “protect the Dreamers, I would make sure that Dreamers who came to this country would have a pathway to citizenship, so they finish their schooling … if they’re serving in the military, they can continue to serve, so that they can start families and start businesses.”
And live their lives here in peace. As the Trump administration continues to ramp up its anti-immigrant agenda, it’s all the more important to continue lifting up the voices of the people who are under attack, like Chavez, as well as the candidates who want to defend them. “I think it’s really important that we recognize that immigration is a strength,” Gillibrand continued, “and I would lead in that way. I would make sure that we pass comprehensive immigration reform in this country.”