[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 7, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S698-S699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CHILD PROTECTION IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 2017--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.


                                  DACA

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I will continue my remarks about the 
importance of passing the Dream Act and the work of the Common Sense 
Caucus, in which the Presiding Officer has been involved, to try to 
find a path forward to protect these Dreamers while understanding the 
combination that we could have for increased border security at the 
same time.
  What you have going on right now in our country is fear, as Senator 
Durbin has pointed out, with over 800,000 people who have been here, as 
I said, through no fault of their own and with 97 percent of them 
working or in school. Just yesterday, I met with the Catholic 
Conference--people from the Catholic Church in my State--and some of 
the Dreamers, and I heard again of the account of someone who is in 
school and is doing well, who wants to work, and who wants to stay in 
our State. When I hear these stories, I am always reminded of the 
oldest Dreamer I ever met, Joseph Medina, who was born in Mexico.
  He came over to this country and didn't know he had been brought over 
to the country illegally. His parents had died. He grew up in Sleepy 
Eye, MN--a little town. He decided to sign up to serve our country 
during World War II. He then found out he was undocumented. When I met 
him at age 99, in his words, back then, the military took you over to 
Canada for a night, and you stayed in a hotel. You came back, and you 
were a citizen because they wanted you to serve in the military. He 
then served bravely under General MacArthur. He came back to the United 
States and got married and had a son. That son served our country in 
the Vietnam war.
  I met their entire family and stood with them in front of the World 
War II Memorial when he was 99 years old--Joseph Medina--along with two 
other Dreamers, who were two kids from a Minnesota suburban high school 
who wanted to join the Air Force, but, at the time, they were not able 
to. He wanted them to be able to serve our country just as he had 
served our country. He died just this last year at age 103. I am doing 
it for him and for the 6,000 Dreamers who live in Minnesota.

  As we know, we have been seeing them lose their DACA status since the 
administration's decision. Not only would this mean deportation if we 
don't do something about this, it means people will basically be led 
away from their jobs--people who are teaching school, who are working 
at jobs in our hospitals and in our neighborhoods, and suddenly they 
will not be able to work. We cannot let that happen in America, and I 
cannot let that happen in our State. That is why we must continue this 
work. We must get this done and the sooner, the better.
  The Dream Act is based on a simple principle. Dreamers were brought 
to the United States as children and only know this country as their 
home, and they should be given the opportunity to contribute to our 
Nation and become citizens.
  Passing the Dream Act isn't just the morally right thing to do, which 
the majority of Americans agree with, it also makes economic sense. One 
recent study estimated that ending DACA could cost the country over 
$400 billion over the next 10 years. It would cost Minnesota more than 
$376 million in annual revenue and have an immeasurable impact on 
families who would be ripped apart.
  The unemployment rate in my State is in the 3-percent range, and this 
population is working in our State and an important part of our State's 
employment force, just as our legal refugees are. That is why this 
rhetoric and some of the things we are hearing about Dreamers isn't 
good.
  I truly appreciate those Republicans in the Senate, including the 
Presiding Officer, who have been willing to work with us on this issue 
and talk to the people in their States to try to come together on 
passing some version of the Dream Act and allowing these Dreamers to 
stay.
  We will continue this fight. We stand in support of the Dream Act, we 
stand in support of those Dreamers, and we work every single day to 
find a solution.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Thank you, Mr. President.
  I am honored to rise after my distinguished colleagues from Minnesota 
and Illinois to issue a simple demand: We must act now to pass 
legislation protecting the Dreamers against mass, draconian 
deportation. We must act now effectively, not cosmetically or 
superficially. We must act now without unacceptable preconditions and 
hostage-taking amendments that cut immigration--a betrayal of our 
American values.
  We cannot ask Dreamers to languish in uncertainty any longer. These 
young people are Americans in all but name. They grew up in this 
country, and they went to our schools. They serve in our military and 
support our economy. They epitomize the American dream. These young 
people work hard, and they give back. Deporting Dreamers would be 
cruel, irrational, inhumane, and very simply repugnant to the American 
values that every Member of this Chamber holds dear.
  When DACA was adopted in 2012, it changed the lives of these young 
people. It opened new doors to opportunity. Dreamers could come out of 
the shadows. They could use driver's licenses, attend college, and 
fully participate in our economy.
  When DACA was adopted, we made a promise to the Dreamers. We promised 
that if they come forward and provide the U.S. Government with their 
most basic personal and private information, this information will 
never be used against them. We assured them that they have a place in 
this country. Now, with the complicity of this body, that promise is 
about to be broken. I say ``complicity'' because the President, in 
September, is the one who committed the act of breaking that promise by 
saying that he was going to end the DACA Program, and he gave Congress 
6 months to remedy that broken promise. He threw to Congress a ticking 
time bomb that literally would rip apart the lives of 800,000 or 1.8 
million--the numbers vary; the principle is the same. Ripping apart 
their lives would be the consequence.
  I have said it before, and I am going to say it again. Great 
countries do not break their promises. The United States is the 
greatest country in the history of the world. We should not be breaking 
our promises. We should not even threaten to break our promises to 
innocent young people, men and women who know only this country and 
whose whole lives are here.
  The President's decision to rescind DACA threatens to tear them away 
from their families, their jobs, and their communities, where they make 
a difference for the better. It is threatening their lives with total 
disarray, forcing them to go back to countries where they barely lived 
and have no life. It derails their future. We are a country better than 
this kind of inhumanity.
  I want to talk again about Jonathan Gonzales-Cruz, a college student 
at Southern Connecticut State University. He is shown here, and I am 
behind him. He was attending a rally in support of the Dreamers, but I 
had the privilege of meeting Jonathan well before this rally. He shared 
his story with me, and I shared it with this Chamber in January.

  Jonathan was born in Mexico. He came to the United States when he was 
just 4 years old. The United States is his home. It is the only country 
he has ever known. He is set to graduate this spring with honors in 
economics and math after receiving a full scholarship to attend 
Southern Connecticut State University.
  Like many, due to the President's recision of DACA and this Chamber's

[[Page S699]]

failure to act, which is complicity, Jonathan has been compelled to 
delay his dream of continuing his education and attending law school. 
However, Jonathan hasn't abandoned his steadfast commitment to helping 
others and giving back to Connecticut and this Nation.
  I recently had the honor of writing a letter of recommendation on his 
behalf in his pursuit of a public policy fellowship. Despite the 
uncertainty around his own immigration status, Jonathan believes so 
much in this country and our ideals that he continues to seek out 
opportunities to give back. That is the purpose of his fellowship, and 
that is the reason I wrote a letter of recommendation.
  He first became compelled to tell his story after his father was 
deported. He was unable to even say goodbye before his father was 
ripped away from his family.
  If Congress fails to act, Jonathan could lose his DACA protection. He 
could be one of those 800,000 who have legally told the government 
where they are, what they are doing, how to call them, and he could be 
deported--one of 800,000 who could be swept away in a mass deportation, 
unprecedented in this great country.
  In the meantime, he is anguished and anxious, as are many other DACA 
young people who are afraid to go to school or to health clinics or to 
courts or police stations if they are victims of crimes, such as 
domestic violence. My office meets with countless numbers of them from 
Connecticut and across the country. Like Jonathan, they are at risk of 
losing those DACA protections. They have become moms and dads and 
leaders in our communities.
  Congress must do its job. Congress must act, and it must act now to 
provide permanent status and a path to citizenship for Jonathan and 
1.3, 1.8 million Dreamers in this Nation.
  Due to a Federal court order, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services, USCIS, has been ordered to accept renewal applications for 
DACA recipients. Once again, the courts have been a bulwark for 
individual rights and liberties, but this reprieve is no final remedy. 
We must redouble our determination to assist these young people and 
protect them, which must be done right away because deportation is a 
continuing threat. President Trump's cruel and unconscionable decision 
to end this program is intolerable, but so is our complicity if we fail 
to act.
  DACA protections are set to expire in less than a month. There is no 
more kicking the can down the road. The ticking time bomb thrown by 
President Trump into this Chamber is set to explode. We have the power 
to defuse it and to end this awful menace. Refusing to do so would be a 
grave abdication of responsibility.
  Acting now in the service of the American dream is not only the right 
thing to do, it is in our self-interest to do so. It is in our self-
interest in a basic economic sense. In reality, these young people are 
integral to our economy. If Congress fails to pass the DACA bill, we 
will lose $500 billion over the next 10 years. We will lose $25 billion 
in Medicare and Social Security taxes. In my home State alone, we stand 
to lose more than $300 million a year.
  Now is the time to abandon the myth that the Dreamers work on the 
sidelines of American society. They are part of the economic fabric as 
well as the social tapestry of this Nation. They help drive our 
economy. They are small business owners. They are physicians, 
scientists, and teachers. Continued waiting would mean instability in 
the job market as companies are forced to fire DACA recipients and 
train new people in anticipation of the March deadline. As I said 
before, forcing these outstanding members of our community to leave 
would be a logistical and humanitarian nightmare.
  Time is not on our side. If Congress passes a DACA bill, USCIS will 
need to develop new regulations. It will have to process applications. 
It will have to set up the bureaucratic structure and rules of 
procedure. We cannot delay because the Dreamers stand to lose their 
protections simply by the passage of time.
  Contributing members of our society, like Jonathan, who have done 
nothing wrong, have no criminal record, will be dragged back into the 
shadows. They will be unable to attend our colleges, work in jobs. Once 
again, they will dread the sound of police sirens.
  The character of our Nation, who we are, is at stake. So many 
Americans relate to the story of these Dreamers because they can see 
themselves through their eyes. They can see their own immigrant story 
in Jonathan. So many of us--my family included--came to this country 
with hopes for a better life and a future. Jonathan had no choice; he 
was brought here as a child. But the American dream belongs to him too.
  We must pass DACA legislation now.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Fischer). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________