[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 177 (Thursday, December 8, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6876-S6877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DACA
Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to share the
story of an incredible DREAMer from my home State of New Mexico, but
first I would like to commend my colleague, Senator Dick Durbin of
Illinois, for his tremendous leadership in standing up for DREAMers--
young undocumented immigrants who are brought to the United States as
children. I am proud to join him in this effort.
Four years ago, the President announced that DREAMers would have the
opportunity to apply for temporary protection from deportation through
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, known as DACA.
Today, more than half a million young people across the country have
benefited from DACA, including more than 6,500 in my home State of New
Mexico.
Across this country, there are DREAMers working to become doctors,
scientists, lawyers, and engineers. They want to start businesses and
teach in our classrooms and serve in our military. DREAMers want to
earn an education and contribute to our economy, to pay taxes and give
back to their communities and their country. I would argue that most
DREAMers don't know how to be anything but Americans.
Over the last month, I have heard from many New Mexicans who are
fearful and uncertain about just how the new Trump administration could
impact their community, their neighbors, their friends. This is
particularly true for the thousands of young people who applied for
temporary status under the DACA Program.
Over the last few years, I have come down to the floor to tell
stories of DREAMers from my home. I told the story of twin sisters who
graduated from college and are now both seeking advanced degrees, one
in law, one in medicine. I told the story of a young man who applied
for DACA and wanted to pursue graduate school for biology. I am happy
to report that he is currently studying to earn a joint Ph.D. and M.D.,
with the hope of working on disease prevention. I will continue to tell
the inspiring stories of DREAMers who demonstrate why we should protect
them from deportation.
Today, I would like to tell you about one of those New Mexicans,
someone I heard from last week when I held a listening session with
community and faith leaders, immigrant rights advocates, and DREAMers
from across New Mexico. She and her family live in the Mesilla Valley
in southern New Mexico.
The Mesilla Valley is a rich agricultural region. It is home to dairy
farms, pecan orchards, and many of New Mexico's famed green chile
fields. Generations of farmers and families in the Mesilla Valley have
shaped the rich history and, fundamentally, the culture of my home
State.
Today, families like the family of the DREAMer I heard from are
working hard each and every day to improve their community, many of
which lack adequate transportation and water infrastructure. They are
working to create a better future for the next generation.
This young woman's strength is rooted in her family and in her faith.
She is the oldest child in her family and is the first person in her
family to seek higher education. She told me that through her education
and her work ethic, she wants to set an example to her five younger
brothers and sisters. She teaches catechism classes for children at her
church, where she also helps with fundraisers, cooks meals, and assists
with church events.
Since graduating from high school, she has started working toward her
associate's degree in nursing. In a State like New Mexico, where we
badly need more nurses and medical professionals in our rural and
underserved communities, her professional dreams and aspirations are
truly critical.
DACA allowed her to get a work permit to hold a job that assists her
in paying for her education, for her textbooks, but now, with the
President-elect pledging to rescind DACA, this young woman fears that
everything she has worked so hard to achieve could be lost. She fears
that her family will be separated and that she might be deported from
the only community she knows and the community she calls home. She told
me, ``If [DACA] were to
[[Page S6877]]
be removed, then my dream would be destroyed.''
This young woman's dream and her drive to give back to her community
in southern New Mexico are incredible, but her story is far from
unique. Her story is similar to thousands of other DREAMers in my home
State and hundreds of thousands across our country, some of whom have
escaped unthinkable hardships. They are working to contribute to their
communities and to create a brighter future. These DREAMers should be
met with compassion.
During my listening session, I also heard from a Catholic priest who
serves many immigrant families in his parish. He said he was deeply
impacted by hearing this young woman's story during our listening
session. He told me that her story ``reflects exactly what [he's] seen
and heard from many families not only from [his] parish but also from
neighboring parishes.'' He said, ``There is a lot of fear and people
are so concerned and worried--especially families--[about] what can
happen after the election.''
I want to make it very clear that in the coming years, I will not
waiver in standing up for all New Mexicans in my role in the Senate. We
should never be a country that kicks out some of our best and brightest
students, and we should not be a nation that tears families apart. I
will not stand for policies that are contrary to our fundamental
American ideas and values.
I would like to thank the young woman who shared her story with me
for having the courage to speak out, particularly with the uncertainty
of her situation and in the wake of the recent election. The idea that
young men and women like this hard-working nursing student in southern
New Mexico will have to retreat back into the shadows or fear being
removed from their homes as a consequence of congressional inaction on
immigration reform is simply unconscionable.
I am calling for the Obama administration to take every possible
legal action to protect DREAMers--individuals who are American in every
way but for their immigration status--so that they are not targeted for
removal by the incoming administration. Last week, I sent a letter to
the White House urging President Obama to use his pardon authority to
protect DREAMers from deportation.
I also plan to continue pushing for comprehensive immigration reform
in the new Congress, which I still strongly believe has bipartisan
support among my colleagues--those colleagues who want real solutions
rather than rancorous rhetoric. We need to modernize our immigration
system to meet the needs of our economy and provide an accountable
pathway to earn citizenship for the undocumented workers living here in
the shadows, including making the DREAM Act law.
As southwest border security is discussed in the context of
immigration reform, I will continue to be focused on pragmatic and
accountable policy decisions that include the many concerns of our
border communities. As the son of an immigrant myself, I am familiar
with the unique promise that America represents for so many families. I
am grateful that when my father and my grandparents fled Germany in the
years leading up to World War II, our country chose to see them for
what they were--enthusiastic American immigrants.
Our Nation's remarkable spirit is rooted in our diversity, our
history, and our culture, which has always been enriched by our
immigrant communities and their family members. I encourage my
colleagues and our incoming President-elect to look at the human faces
of our broken immigration system and to work toward real solutions.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________