[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 206 (Monday, December 18, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8067-S8068]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  DACA

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise to talk about this so-called DACA 
Program for the Dreamers, the young people whom we have heard so much 
about, especially in the last couple of months.
  As many people across the country know, in September, President Trump 
ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, known as 
DACA. This decision and, so far, congressional refusal to pass the 
Dream Act have created both fear and uncertainty for nearly 800,000 
young people across our country, so-called DACA recipients.
  I know that a lot of Americans have met these young people over the 
course of not just the last couple of months but maybe over the course 
of many years. I had that chance most recently, at least on two 
occasions, when we set up time to sit with young people who were 
Pennsylvanians. Once was in the city of Philadelphia, where I sat with 
young people from both Philadelphia and Lancaster, which is not too far 
of a drive from Philadelphia--about an hour or so. They came to 
Philadelphia to sit with us. Then a couple of months later, it was in 
the Lehigh Valley, which is about an hour just north of Philadelphia. 
The first group was a larger group of maybe 15 young people, and the 
second group was a group of 3 individuals.
  In both of those meetings, I was struck by not just how concerned and 
worried these young people were about what would happen to them and 
happen to their friends and, in a larger sense, happen to their 
families, but I was impressed by their stories--what they had achieved 
in their young lives. I was also moved by the commitment that they have 
had to hard work, to being part of the fabric of America, and the real 
concern that they have had about and the love they have for their own 
parents. They worried about how this might affect their parents but 
also had love for the commitment that their parents had made and their 
family members had made to allow them to succeed in coming here, in 
some cases as babies or as very young children, and to live in America 
for all of these years, not technically as citizens but to live full 
lives.
  They were made a promise by the President of the United States that 
if they were to come forward and make certain disclosures, this program 
would protect them. I think that promise is inviolate and should not be 
broken by any administration. Congress certainly has work to do to 
enforce the promise and to give the promise an even stronger 
foundation.
  You don't have to be on one side of the aisle or the other to be 
moved by these stories, and I will get to some of the details later. 
One of the young women was in the first group that I mentioned when we 
were sitting around a big conference table. Of course, these 
individuals don't have to sit with me, and they don't have to travel to 
tell their stories, but they are worried. They are concerned about the 
policy and how it might affect their lives.
  One young woman said to me: The only country I have ever known 
doesn't seem to want us--or at least that was her impression. She has 
lived nowhere else.
  If you go person after person after person, these are young people 
who have lived here virtually their whole lives even though they 
technically were not born here. They have achieved so much and have 
gone through our schools. Our Nation has invested in them, and they 
have succeeded in holding down jobs and getting educations and getting 
higher educations. All they ask is that we set up a process so that 
they will not be deported.
  It doesn't make a lot of sense, the direction in which we seem to be 
heading. Rescinding the DACA Program will cost the United States of 
America jobs. I think it will hurt our security over time.
  As I said before, it is a broken promise--a promise that was made to 
young people by our government. It was not just a casual promise but, I 
would argue, a commitment, a bond, an agreement that should be honored. 
As I have said so many times before--and I will keep saying it--why 
would other countries believe us when we make a commitment if we cannot 
keep our commitment to these young people? Something on the order of 
800,000 young people who live in the United States of America were 
promised that if they came forward, they would be protected. Why would 
any country believe us after that if we were to break that promise? Why 
would they believe Republicans or Democrats? Why would they believe the 
administration--this administration or future administrations--or this 
Congress or future Congresses down the road, the House and Senate? If 
we were to break that promise, would our word be good around the world?
  These Dreamers are young people who have lived in this country since

[[Page S8068]]

they were children. They have been law-abiding residents. They have 
learned English. They pay taxes. They have secured jobs that have 
supported themselves and their families. They were made a promise.
  What are some of the numbers? Here is the economic impact in the 
context of one State in our country. In Pennsylvania alone, estimates 
say that ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program 
would cost the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania nearly $357 million per 
year in GDP losses. This is according to the Center for American 
Progress. So, for one State, it is $357 million. How about for the 
Nation? The comparable number for the Nation is about $460 billion. The 
first number was with an ``m''--millions--in the context of the State. 
The second number is $460 billion, with a ``b''--almost half a trillion 
dollars--from the GDP over the next decade. Roughly, in the context of 
a yearly number, it is $46 billion a year.
  Even if you don't think that we have to honor the promise, even if 
you don't believe in the program, why would we want to take a step that 
would hurt our economy in our losing about $46 billion every year for 
10 years, adding up to $460 billion over 10 years?
  According to FWD.us, 91 percent of DACA recipients are employed, and 
repealing DACA could result in an average of 8,500 DACA recipients--
young people--losing their jobs each week as a result of that. There 
are 91 percent of them who are employed--working--in the United States 
of America. It is the country that promised them that if they came 
forward, we would give them protection. They are working every day, 
following the law, loving this country.
  We have told them, at best, that their status or their fate is 
uncertain. That is the best that we can say about what has happened 
between the administration's making the announcement a number of months 
ago and Congress's doing nothing to address this problem.
  DACA recipients have jobs in sectors that are critical to our 
economy, such as healthcare, science and technology, and engineering 
and math--so-called STEM jobs. Additionally, more than one out of every 
seven DACA-eligible immigrants has language skills that are currently 
in short supply in the U.S. military, according to the New American 
Economy. The U.S. military benefits when we have individuals residing 
in our country who have that skill in languages. The Institute on 
Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that the 1.3 million young 
people who are enrolled in or who are eligible for DACA pay $2 billion 
each year in State and local taxes. So they are working, and they are 
paying taxes.
  Dreamers across Pennsylvania and the Nation represent the America 
that we should all be proud of. I think everyone could agree to that in 
the work that they are doing and their commitment to our country. We 
should be proud of that. This is a country in which hard-working young 
people who are working to better themselves and their communities are 
given a chance to do just that. That is the kind of country we all 
profess to believe in. That is the kind of Nation that we want to be.
  Another estimate is that between September 5, 2017, when the program 
was terminated, and March 5, 2018, which is the deadline that is coming 
up, 122 DACA recipients will lose their protection every day. That 
means that by March 5 of 2018, 22,000 Dreamers will have lost their 
DACA protection.
  Congress should move immediately--the U.S. Senate should move 
immediately--to make sure that we protect these Dreamers and pass the 
so-called bipartisan Dream Act. Here is what the bill would do in short 
form. It would allow the Dreamers to become permanent residents if they 
meet the very stringent qualifications outlined in the bill. We aren't 
talking about any kind of a free pass. These are young people who have 
worked so hard to become the very sort of Americans we want: employed, 
law-abiding, and paying taxes. The numbers of Dreamers in Pennsylvania 
are about 5,900 individuals who have been given DACA status. Passing 
the Dream Act would give these young people some security and a future 
they can count on.

  I was proud to support a version of the Dream Act back in 2007 and 
2010. We should have an up-or-down vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate 
that is a clean version of the Dream Act--not embedded in some other 
legislation--but an up-or-down vote on the Dream Act. Let's see where 
people stand. I would hope it would be an overwhelming vote. I think it 
probably would be. Let's have an up-or-down vote for these young 
people.
  Let's keep the promise to these Dreamers so our promise is good here 
at home, and our promise and our word and our credibility will be good 
the world over because if we break that promise, it is going to be 
pretty difficult for people around the world to believe us on a whole 
host of fronts. I know that may offend somebody, but that is the way I 
see it.
  Keeping a promise is the principal reason to pass the Dream Act, but 
we should also try to help our economy, not allow our economy to lose 
hundreds of billions of dollars over 10 years, tens of billions each 
and every year because we are deporting people who have offered so much 
to the country, who have worked so hard, who have become part of the 
fabric of American life, part of the fabric of the American family. 
These are folks who live in every community, who are part of the fabric 
of a neighborhood, part of the fabric of a community, part of the 
fabric of a school, part of the fabric of a State, and the fabric of a 
nation.
  The third reason we should pass the Dream Act is to unite our 
country. This is one area where we can all come together. We might have 
a lot of disagreements, and they will be played out this week on the 
tax bill, on this issue or that issue, but we can bring the country 
together. Most people in both parties understand what this is all 
about. They understand the promise, they understand the impact on our 
economy, and they also understand that a great country can make the 
right decision on this issue.
  By uniting our country on the Dream Act, we can make a downpayment on 
a bright future for these young people who love the United States of 
America and who have demonstrated that by their commitment to the 
country, by their work ethic, and by the commitment they have made to 
their communities. Let's pass the Dream Act.
  I yield the floor.

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