Urges Administration to Protect DACA Until Legislation Passed
San Diego - Today, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) announced the bipartisan DREAM Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for qualifying undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.
While we applaud this legislation, we are concerned by the ongoing threat that the Trump administration will end the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program) before legislation is considered, which will put young immigrants in San Diego in jeopardy.
DACA, which has given protection, peace of mind and financial stability to close to 800,000 young immigrants and their families nationwide, is essential to San Diegans. There are roughly 40,000 San Diegans who are eligible for DACA. Without DACA in place, we risk reverting to the days when they were unprotected, and kids were picked up on the bus or trolley on their way to school and deported. Alliance San Diego, along with trusted partners, recently launched a campaign to urge all undocumented immigrants to attend our FREE legal screenings to see if they qualify for DACA or other immigration relief programs.
Andrea Guerrero, Executive Director of Alliance San Diego, released the following statement:
"We urge President Trump to keep DACA in place until Congress passes the DREAM Act and adopts a permanent solution to fix our broken immigration system. If Trump does not protect this program, he will jeopardize the lives of close to 800,000 young people who live, study, and work in this country, including tens of thousands in San Diego.
During these times of uncertainty, Alliance San Diego invites community members to take advantage of our free legal screenings to see if they qualify for DACA or other immigration relief programs. San Diego County has the seventh largest population of undocumented immigrants in the country, and about 40,000 are eligible for DACA.
We stand with immigrants in their pursuit of legal solutions to protect their families and contribute fully to this country, and we welcome common sense policies that allow young immigrants to earn their citizenship."
About Alliance San Diego
Alliance San Diego is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) community empowerment organization working to ensure that all people can achieve their full potential in an environment of harmony, safety, equality, and justice. Our mission is to to provide a means for diverse individuals and organizations to share information, collaborate on issues and mobilize for change in the pursuit of social justice, especially in low-income communities and communities of color. We pursue this mission through targeted civic engagement programs and strategic coalitions that focus on specific issues and policy reforms.
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