[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 181 (Tuesday, November 7, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7049-S7050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                  DACA

  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, whenever a Higher Power is looking down on 
us as we move through our daily lives, I imagine that He probably 
doesn't see political borders. I imagine He probably doesn't care much 
about the distinctions that we create to tell the difference between us 
and others. He probably doesn't care much about walls and fences. He 
cares about us as people. He looks at us, at how we conduct ourselves, 
and at how we treat others.
  We spend a lot of time here talking about the arbitrary divisions 
between us, but in the end, when we face our Maker, it probably is just 
about how we treated those around us, whether we tried to make their 
lives a little bit better.
  So I am on the floor this afternoon to talk about a handful of my 
constituents who need our help, young people who we have labeled with 
the term Dreamers, who came to this country not by their decision but 
by the decision of their parents, when they were very, very young. They 
are Americans in every sense of the word. They are beautiful, beautiful 
young men and women, and they want us to see them as the beautiful 
individuals they are. They don't want to be labeled. They don't want to 
be put into the middle of a divisive political dialogue. They just want 
our help.

  We all hear from them because there is no State that doesn't have 
these kids. There are 800,000 who have officially registered under the 
existing law that provides them with protection. They are in every 
single congressional district.
  I thought it would be useful for my colleagues to hear from just a 
few of them today because they can tell the story of why we need to 
give citizenship, permanent protection, to these kids at the very 
least, if not their parents and others who have been waiting for a long 
time for comprehensive immigration reform. They can tell this story 
better than I can.
  Vania from Willimantic is a student at Eastern Connecticut State 
University. I want to read what she wrote to me. She said:

       I was born in Mexico, and I was brought to the United 
     States at the age of 3 and have been living in Willimantic 
     since. I am 19 now. I grew up in Willimantic, Connecticut, 
     and I consider it my home. It's where I grew up, where I went 
     to school, where I made friends, and where all my memories 
     are.
       As an undocumented student in the United States, you are 
     constantly unsure of what your future may hold, but not 
     because you're indecisive or unsure of what you are going to 
     do, but rather because you don't ultimately have power of 
     your own future. At a young age I always knew I wanted to go 
     to college; however, I also knew that because of my status, I 
     might have not been able to carry out that goal. However, I 
     didn't let it discourage me. I like many other undocumented 
     students did the best we could and constantly strived to be 
     the best at anything we did, and now, thanks to DACA, all 
     that hard work has finally begun to pay off.
       See, DACA is more than just a legal status; it is the 
     puzzle piece that many of us have been missing in order to 
     reach our goals. It has allowed me to get a Social Security 
     number, a driver's license, but more importantly, a higher 
     education.

[[Page S7050]]

       Growing up, I constantly had all my teachers say to me: Do 
     good in school, try your best at anything you do, stay out of 
     trouble, and you are guaranteed to go far in life.

  Let me step out of her comments for a second. Boy, if that is not an 
encapsulation of the American dream--``do good in school, try your best 
at anything you do, stay out of trouble, and you are guaranteed to go 
far in life''--I don't think I could find a better way to encapsulate 
what we hope is the story for every single child in this country.
  Vania said:

       So that is exactly what I did. Most other DACA recipients 
     did the exact same, but it currently doesn't seem enough for 
     this government. There is no longer a fight for a work permit 
     but rather a fight for my human rights. I am just as worthy 
     to live here and carry out my goals as any other natural born 
     citizenship. I have done my best, consistently contributed to 
     society in a positive way. This is my home. I deserve to feel 
     safe here, and I will continue to fight for that until I do.

  Mirka is from Wallingford, CT, and she is a Southern Connecticut 
State University student. She said:

       I came here from Mexico sixteen years ago. I am currently a 
     senior at Southern Connecticut State University, studying 
     bilingual education.
       We need more good people in bilingual education.
       I just started student teaching last week, but all that is 
     in danger. Besides being able to get a license and work 
     permit, DACA has allowed me to follow through on my passion 
     of becoming a teacher. It has given me hope that I have a 
     future career in education and that I can live my life 
     without fear of deportation.

  An in-need profession--bilingual educators. Somebody willing to 
devote their life to our kids needs our help.
  Faye in Norwalk says:

       I am one of the more than 800,000 DACA recipients in the 
     United States. I am from Trinidad and Tobago and have been in 
     the United States almost 19 years. I live in Norwalk, CT, and 
     I have lived there for about 16 years. It is home to me.

  You hear that over and over again: It is home to me.

       I am currently a Lead Radiology Scheduler, and I have a 
     second job working at Ulta, both of which I enjoy. My goal in 
     working both jobs is to purchase my first home.

  That is another very critical component of the American dream--home 
ownership.

       Growing up, I wanted to be a homeowner. I wanted a place 
     that I could call mine, and with DACA I saw that as a 
     possibility. Now I'm not sure when or if that would come 
     through, but I still will continue to work hard because in my 
     heart I know God is bigger than even this moment, and I know 
     that we will be victorious. Even in a land that would not 
     allow me to claim it as my home, I want to buy a house of my 
     own to call my home. One day I will be called American not 
     just among my undocumented community but by a Nation.

  I mean, listen, we have some very articulate people in this body, 
Republicans and Democrats. I am not sure that any of us could write 
something that poignant, that beautiful, and that compelling: I am not 
sure if any of that will come through, but I am going to continue to 
work hard because in my heart I know that God is bigger than even this 
moment, and I know that we will be victorious. Even in a land that 
would not allow me to claim it as my home, I want to buy a house to 
call it my home. One day I will be called an American not just among my 
community but by my Nation.
  There are 4,900 DACA recipients in just my State alone. I have met a 
lot of them. Frankly, maybe not everyone is as beautifully articulate 
as Faye, but, boy, they have done some very impressive things with 
their lives, maybe in part because they always knew that their status 
here was in jeopardy and they had to make the most of their time in the 
United States, not knowing when it would end, knowing that they had 
opportunities here in the United States that they simply would not and 
could not have if they ever went home, especially those kids who came 
here when they were 3 years old, going back home to a place where they 
might not even speak the language--they certainly know no one--a place 
where opportunity is farther off even for those who were born there. 
They worked hard, and they hustled a little bit more, knowing that they 
might be at risk of some day being pushed out of this country.
  They are Americans. Every single one of these students, these 
Dreamers, use the phrase ``This is home.'' And they want our help.
  I think this is a moral issue, first and foremost. It is how we treat 
each other. These people are our neighbors. They are our coworkers.
  Eight hundred business leaders--CEOs from companies such as Walmart, 
Target, Facebook, Pepsi, Kaiser--want them to stay here because they 
are their employees. They know how much they add to the economic bounty 
of this country. They wrote to us and asked for us to provide permanent 
protection for these kids.
  Seventy-five national colleges and universities, including all the 
ones in my State--Yale, Trinity, Connecticut College, the State 
universities--said the same thing. They want to educate these kids. 
They see them. They see what stellar students they are, and they just 
can't imagine the United States deciding to send 800,000 of these 
incredibly capable kids away.
  One hundred eighty-six civil and human rights groups running the 
gamut say: This is a moral and civil rights issue. Let these kids stay.
  Because of President Trump's decision to telegraph the end of the 
temporary protection for these students, the burden is now on us, 
Republicans and Democrats, to do something and do something soon. It is 
hard to describe the psychological toll on these kids right now. I 
mean, it was bad enough when they were pushed into the shadows. It got 
a little bit better when they got temporary protection. But now that we 
have put a clock on, now that they have revealed themselves to the 
world and put themselves on a list that can allow them to be targeted, 
there is a little bit of their soul that atrophies every day as they 
wonder whether we are going to come together and do the right thing. 
Part of the reason part of them is crumbling inside is because they see 
themselves as being made political pawns in a bigger game here.
  It would be so easy for us to decide to protect these kids. Just do 
it now. Don't wait until the end of the year. Don't wait until this 
issue is mixed together with all sorts of other must-pass legislation. 
Just come together right now and step up and give these kids some 
degree of confidence that they can be here.
  I have heard so many of my Republican colleagues say they want to do 
that. Why wait? Why push this up until the last minute? Do it right 
now. It is the right thing to do.
  In the end, whoever is up there does not look at borders. He looks at 
us. He looks into our soul. He thinks about how we treat those who need 
our help and our protection. And no one needs our help and protection 
more than these kids right now--5,000 of them in my State and 800,000 
of them across the country.
  So my plea is simple, Mr. President: Let's do this and do this now. 
Let's give permanent protection, citizenship, pathways to citizenship, 
to these beautiful boys and girls, men and women. Don't make this issue 
about politics. Don't make it about parties. Don't make these kids a 
bargaining chip in a bigger game. Just do the right thing. I promise 
you, if you do, you won't regret it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.