The Trump administration plans to end a program that protects from deportation 800,000 students and working young adults who were brought to the United States as children. AFT President Kirsch released a statement to the media about administration plans to end DACA and asked union members to urge their Congressional representatives to pass the Dreamers Act of 2017.
The assault on Dreamers and those in the DACA program is heartless. Congress has the power to end the uncertainty and let Dreamers fully contribute to society while pursuing their dreams. Please call your Congressional Representatives and tell them "I urge you to support DACA and pass the Dream Act of 2017." Call the hotline Wednesday at 1-844-311-3181.
Statement by Ted Kirsch on DACA & Dreamers
"The 800,000 young immigrants brought to our country as children are not bargaining chips in a battle for immigration reform. Yet in announcing an end to the DACA program today, that is precisely how the Trump Administration is using them.
"In a calculated and cruel move, the administration is using these hardworking students and young adults as pawns in a decades-long fight for comprehensive, humane immigration laws.
Dreamers are not responsible for their status as undocumented immigrants, nor are they to blame for Congress’s inability to fix a broken U.S. immigration system.
"Unless Congress accomplishes in six months what it has not been able to do for 25 years, Dreamers registered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will be torn from their families, schools, jobs and the only country most of them have ever known. They will be shipped to strange countries where they may know no one or speak the language.
"Today’s announcement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions is another blemish on our reputation around the world as a country that welcomes immigrants and, in truth, depends on immigrants as a crucial engine of economic growth.
"As with President Trump’s “ban” on transgender people serving in the military and his “Muslim” ban and other policies, this administration continues to force large segments of our population back into the shadows.
"No child, no young adult who voluntarily registered with the DACA program – no human being, for that matter – should pay with their futures for the dysfunction in the legislative or executive branches of our government. We must stop the madness and the brinksmanship now and treat Dreamers with the respect, decency and compassion they deserve."
Join AFT brothers and sisters across the country. Call Congress to stop the deportation of 800,000 young people who are Americans in every way – except on paper!
The assault on Dreamers and those in the DACA program is heartless. Congress has the power to end the uncertainty and let Dreamers fully contribute to society while pursuing their dreams. Please call your Congressional Representatives and tell them "I urge you to support DACA and pass the Dream Act of 2017." Call the hotline Wednesday at 1-844-311-3181.