[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 46 (Thursday, March 14, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         DREAM AND PROMISE ACT

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                            HON. LORI TRAHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 14, 2019

  Mrs. TRAHAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge this Congress to 
provide permanent relief to the Dreamers, Deferred Enforcement 
Departure, and Temporary Protected Status holders whose lives have been 
turned upside down by the Administration. We must pass H.R. 6, the 
Dream and Promise Act, without delay.
   Fourteen months ago, the Department of Homeland Security announced 
that it was ending TPS for nearly 200,000 Salvadorans in the United 
States. The Department's decision about Salvadorans' TPS was just the 
latest in a string of such announcements since the fall of 2017--which 
also threaten Sudanese, Haitian, and Nicaraguan immigrants. Families 
have been living in a state of fear and uncertainty for a year and a 
half, and for no good reason.
   Madam Speaker, I'd like to explain why this is not only cruel 
policy, but also unnecessary and short-sighted. Recently, I had the 
pleasure of speaking with Irma Flores. Irma is a community engagement 
specialist for the city of Somerville, Massachusetts, where she assists 
the Spanish-speaking community. She lives in Haverhill, in my District, 
with her daughter, who goes to school at UMass Boston. Her son 
graduated from Suffolk University with degrees in International 
Relations and Political Science. Irma, herself, studied International 
Relations in her native country at the University of El Salvador. 
However, she and her kids fled to the United States 18 years ago 
because of a devastating earthquake.
   For nearly two decades, the United States has been Irma's home and 
her children's home. The people of Somerville depend upon her; and she 
is a beloved part of the Haverhill community.
   It is estimated that there are more than 12,000 people living in the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts with Temporary Protected Status--half of 
whom are from El Salvador. However, people like Irma have had their 
lives upended by the callousness of the Administration's policy.
   If Irma's story isn't persuasive enough for Congress to act, 
consider the fact that the law, despite the Administration's claim, 
does not require her return. That's because we have the power to permit 
extensions if these residents are unable to return in safety.
   The United States does not--and should not--return people to 
disaster areas or warzones. In January, our State Department renewed 
its travel advisory to El Salvador. The warning reads: ``Violent crime, 
such as murder, assault, rape, and armed robbery, is common. Gang 
activity, such as extortion, violent street crime, and narcotics and 
arms trafficking, is widespread.'' These are not conditions under which 
families should be forced to return.
   But if the legal argument is not persuasive either, consider the 
fact that TPS holders contribute nearly $650 million to the 
Commonwealth's economy. One analysis found that if Salvadoran, 
Honduran, and Haitian workers with TPS were removed from the labor 
force, the United States would lose $164 billion in gross domestic 
product over the next decade.
   Again, Madam Speaker, this is cruel, unnecessary and shortsighted 
policy. This Congress should approve the Dream and Promise Act, which 
provides a permanent fix for Dreamers, DACA, and TPS recipients without 
delay, so that people like Irma and her family can remain safely here 
as members of our communities.

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