Protecting DREAMers
Background
In September 2017, the Trump Administration attempted to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In doing so, President Trump created a moral emergency for our nation. Some 800,000 DACA recipients brought to the United States as children are today vital members of our communities and economy. They are as American as any of us – except for paperwork. President Trump's decision to turn his back on them betrayed our national character.
After legal challenges, in June 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that the Trump Administration's attempt to end DACA was unlawful.
Recent DACA Actions
As the Chairwoman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, Zoe Lofgren has been leading House efforts to grant DREAMers the legal status and path to citizenship that they deserve.
Here are a few recent examples:
- Lofgren and Judiciary Chair Nadler hailed SCOTUS' DACA decision and called for action in the Senate.
- Following the SCOTUS decision, Lofgren and more than 100 House Democrats sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell imploring him to schedule a vote on H.R.6, the Dream and Promise Act, a bipartisan solution that passed the House of Representatives in June 2019.
- Following the SCOTUS decision, Lofgren and more than 100 House Democrats sent a letter to President Trump urging him to use his executive authority to protect DREAMers and to endorse H.R. 6.
- Recently, following reports that the Department of Homeland Security agency has been improperly sharing personal information of DACA recipients with immigration officials, Lofgren and Nadler requested an investigation by the Government Accountability Office.
- Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Lofgren and more than 100 House Democrats sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell renewing their urgent call for H.R. 6 to be brought up for a vote in the Senate upon the Chamber's return in May.
- When Chair Lofgren provided opening remarks at a markup of the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act, she discussed the issue of DACA as the case made its way to the Supreme Court.
- Prior to House passage, Lofgren, an original co-sponsor of H.R. 6, called on her colleagues to pass the Dream and Promise Act (video below).
