Watch Senator Rosen’s Speech HERE
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, during a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) urged her Senate colleagues to take immediate, standalone action to permanently protect Dreamers while simultaneously continuing to work to pass comprehensive immigration reform that provides a pathway to citizenship. Last month, Senator Rosen issued a statement also calling for a legislative fix to permanently protect Dreamers. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has faced ongoing legal challenges in recent years which have threatened its future, leaving Dreamers in limbo.
Watch Senator Rosen’s full remarks here.
Below are Senator Rosen’s floor remarks as delivered:
I rise today to express my strong and continued support for Dreamers, TPS recipients, and immigrant communities in Nevada and across our nation.
It has been decades since Congress has passed real immigration reform, and almost a decade since we have made a real attempt at taking action to provide a permanent solution for those communities and allow families – allow families to remain together.
As a result, our broken immigration system has been left with a patchwork of policies that are outdated and insufficient.
This is why Congress needs to take action now on comprehensive immigration reform, so we can once and for all fix this severely broken system.
This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. We are talking about families who deserve peace of mind about their future. They shouldn’t be subjected to the uncertainty they currently face every single day.
Unfortunately, some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle refuse to come to the table to work with us on comprehensive immigration reform. They would rather leave Dreamers in limbo and have this issue for their own political gain than work towards solutions.
But a number of reasonable Republicans have said in the past that they do support a legislative fix to protect our Dreamers and their futures.
So, let’s start there and work together to provide an immediate, permanent legislative solution for DACA recipients right now – right now – while at the same time, we keep working for more comprehensive immigration reform.
In the ten years since the DACA program first went into effect, it has protected nearly six-hundred thousand Dreamers and allowed them to, well, make a home, build a life and a future here in our country.
And in my state of Nevada alone, thousands of individuals and families rely on DACA to live, work, [and] raise a family, free from fear – in the only country they’ve ever known or ever called home.
DACA has provided vital protections and opportunities for Dreamers, ensuring they can attend college, fully contribute to our economy, serve in our military, and really make a difference in our communities.
Because of DACA, thousands of people have been given access to the American Dream.
And yet, years-long threats to end this policy have left the nearly six hundred thousand DACA recipients in limbo; facing uncertainty, and awaiting court decision after court decision that could jeopardize their future and threaten the lives that they’ve built here.
So, we cannot wait any longer to take action, Mr. President.
That’s why I’m calling on my colleagues to work to pass a permanent legislative solution this year – this year for Dreamers. One that gives them permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship, while we continue working on comprehensive immigration reform.
So, let’s put a standalone proposal to provide a permanent legislative fix for DACA recipients – let’s put that proposal right here on the Senate floor and take a vote immediately to solve this issue.
We must also continue to keep fighting – we have to keep fighting to ensure we take a comprehensive approach to reforming our immigration system and finally give these families the peace of mind they so richly deserve.
Families across our country – they deserve certainty in their futures.
And the Senate must feel the same sense of urgency that they feel every single day. We can’t keep them waiting any longer.
Thank you.
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