Rep. Huffman Slams President Trump’s Broken Promise to DREAMers

September 05, 2017

Washington, D.C.- Rep. Huffman (D-San Rafael) issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a policy that has shielded undocumented young adults who were brought to the U.S. as children:

“President Trump’s decision to terminate the DACA program is a cruel, broken promise that will harm hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who were brought here as children and have lived as Americans for their entire lives. When Trump promised to spare DREAMers from his unforgiving deportation plans, he was, yet again, blowing hot air. This is not just another broken Donald Trump promise, it’s a violation of the core values that America and our communities are built on. 

“These DREAMers have grown up in America: they’ve studied at our schools, enrolled in our universities, served in our military, and contribute every day to our economy and our society. Now President Trump — who pardoned Joe Arpaio for unforgivable racial profiling and violating a judge’s order — believes that these young people ought to be deported, or that they should stop working and instead disappear into the shadows.

“Congress must now act to give the DREAMers a chance to earn their way to citizenship and stay in the country that they call home. This is a test for the leadership of the House and Senate: will we just hear empty expressions of concern, or will they actually take a stand and work with us to immediately bring the American Hope Act of 2017 to a vote, to protect these deserving young people from Donald Trump and set them on a path to earned citizenship. Congress needs to act now to fix our broken immigration system.

“Every community around the country will feel the effect of Donald Trump’s reckless DACA reversal. In my own district, I have met with young DREAMers who are upstanding members of the community, including children whose parents are already facing deportation orders. I will continue to do everything in my power to defend these families from Donald Trump’s cowardly, destructive, and un-American decision to end the DACA program.”

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