Commentary: WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) released the following statement regarding President Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“Today, President Trump cruelly stripped nearly 800,000 DREAMers of their right to simply go to school and work in their own communities without fear. Many of these young people have been raised in the U.S.—the place they call home—and are now in the crosshairs of an increasingly brutal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which has ramped up arrests of those without criminal records by 150 percent under President Trump.
“After bracing for months of uncertainty under the Trump Administration, DACA recipients now face the very real threat of deportation. President Trump’s decision to revoke DACA represents the ultimate betrayal of trust on the part of the federal government toward our DREAMers, who volunteered some of their most sensitive personal information in order to step out of the shadows.
“By threatening the futures of these young people, the Trump Administration is disregarding the core values that guide our country and dismissing DREAMers’ essential contributions to our social and economic fabric. President Trump’s repeal of DACA is another outrageous indication that the xenophobic, white-supremacist tendencies of his administration will not be solved simply by removing particular staffers; rather, these discriminatory impulses have always emanated from the top.
“We call on Republican leaders in Congress to stand up to this disastrous decision by President Trump. We forcefully urge them to reinstate the DACA program in upcoming legislation to fund the government. Hundreds of thousands of young people were guaranteed protection under the DACA program by our government—Congress must now make good on this promise.”
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The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is the largest caucus within the House Democratic Caucus, with over 70 members standing up for progressive ideals in Washington and throughout the country. Since 1991, the CPC has advocated for progressive policies that prioritize working Americans over corporate interests, fight economic and social inequality, and promote civil liberties. The CPC champions progressive policy solutions like comprehensive immigration reform, a $15 national minimum wage, fair trade, gun violence reform, debt-free college, and making the federal government a Model Employer.