[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 203 (Wednesday, December 13, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H9847-H9848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  DACA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, every day, 122 people with DACA lose 
their protection from deportation. They lose their government-issued 
identification that allowed them to stay in this country and work 
legally.
  DACA is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that the 
President ended in September and which will completely expire in March. 
But let's be clear: people don't have until March. People are already 
losing their DACA coverage on a daily basis.
  So when reporters and politicians say that Congress can stall until 
March to enact the Dream Act, they are flat wrong. We cannot wait until 
March. The Dream Act and the protections of the DACA program are not 
light switches we can turn on and off. Every day we delay the passage 
of the Dream Act, another 122 DACA recipients lose their status. They 
go from being documented to being undocumented, and their worlds are 
turned upside down.
  It is not just their lives, but also the lives of American citizens 
who love them, who employ them, and who rely on them.
  Young DREAMers came forward and reported to the Department of 
Homeland Security and paid their own money for a criminal background 
check by the FBI. In fact, many of them have successfully completed 
their paperwork and biometrics three times. They paid all of this 
processing--the paperwork, the background checks, and the 
fingerprints--with their own money.
  By definition, they arrived in the United States as children, and, by 
definition, they all arrived at least 10 years ago--a year and a half 
before Obama even got sworn in as President.
  There are 800,000 of them--800,000 young Americans who have been 
playing by the rules, doing everything their government has asked them 
to do, and who have been living productive lives in communities in 
every State of the Union. As of today, more than 12,000 have lost their 
DACA status and protection.
  Let me tell you about a few of them. Mayron owns three businesses. He 
lives in Washington State and has lived in the U.S. since he was 11 
years old. His DACA expires on December 22, the day after the CR is set 
to expire and the day we are all supposed to go home and return to our 
families for the Christmas holiday and New Year's.
  He submitted his DACA renewal well before the application deadline 
that was arbitrarily set for last October. But he made a mistake. His 
check was for $465, not $495, so he will be deportable as of December 
22. He has lived his entire life in the United States, yet, if 
Republicans and the President have their way, he will be sent back to 
Honduras. His three businesses and those who work there? Who knows what 
will happen to them.
  Another DACA recipient named Saul is from California. Thanks to the 
security and stability provided by DACA, he has pursued a career in 
education. I was a teacher, and I know that the monetary rewards are 
few, but the rewards for your soul are many, and the rewards to our 
society of having dedicated teachers are just as priceless.
  But without DACA and without the Dream Act, Saul has no future in 
teaching, and we may squander the passion he would bring to a 
classroom. His DACA expires on December 29, and this is anything but a 
Merry Christmas for him as we drag our feet here in the Congress of the 
United States.
  Finally, there is Brittany in New York. She is a childcare provider 
who works with infant twins--one of whom has a severe health condition. 
Her employers are now scrambling because Brittany's DACA expired last 
Thursday, and she has no clear legal path forward. The family said: We 
are devastated at the thought that she may not be able to work in this 
country and know we won't find another caregiver who is as reliable, 
nurturing, and unshakeable as Brittany.
  Most Americans don't understand why taking away legal status from a 
childcare provider who is employed, cherished, and loved by her 
employers will somehow create law and order. How does creating more 
undocumented immigrants help? It doesn't make America great. It doesn't 
even strengthen security or our economy. I

[[Page H9848]]

don't think it even benefits the Republican Party politically to send 
this young American woman like her away.
  But it is up to Republicans and Democrats to stand up for Brittany, 
Saul, and Mayron. Democrats must be clear that we value the 
contributions of these young people and will not allow their stories to 
be ignored.
  Republicans--even the brave ones who have said that they are for 
solving the plight of the DACA kids--must do more than write a letter 
or whisper quietly in the Halls that they hope something happens.
  It is up to us right now. I am not leaving, and I am not shutting up 
until we do.

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