[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 20, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S66-S68]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               DREAM ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, earlier today I was proud to join my 
colleagues in witnessing the inauguration of President Joe Biden and 
Vice President Kamala Harris on the west front of the U.S. Capitol.
  I remembered, as I walked away from that inauguration ceremony, the 
experience I had 4 years ago. There was a luncheon. Traditionally there 
is a luncheon given for the new President and Vice President. That 
luncheon was my first opportunity to meet President Donald Trump. I had 
never met him before.
  I went up to him at the head table, and I introduced myself and said: 
I just want to tell you that I am working in the U.S. Senate for the 
DREAM Act. I believe that these Dreamers deserve a chance to become 
part of America's future.
  President Donald Trump, minutes after having taken the oath of 
office, said: Senator, don't worry about those young people. We will 
take care of them.
  That was my first conversation with President Trump. What transpired 
afterwards is a matter of record in the history of this country. We 
know also what happened in this Capitol Building just 2 weeks ago.
  That is why this inauguration was so different. We were battling a 
deadly virus and possibly a deadly attack by American terrorists. The 
U.S. Capitol was as closely guarded as I have ever seen it. We estimate 
that 25,000 soldiers--National Guard and Active-Duty soldiers--were in 
town to protect us from all around the United States, including 260 
from the State of Illinois, I am very proud to announce. They did their 
job and did it well. I thank them for their service and sacrifice and 
separation from their families. But at the same time, we are facing a 
deadly virus. In the midst of a global pandemic, today's celebration 
had to be tempered so that people were safe from wherever they sat and 
from wherever they gathered.
  President Biden and Vice President Harris understand that our Nation

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faces a unique set of circumstances. They also understand that we are a 
unique nation. What makes us special is that people from all over the 
world come to our shores to become Americans, not because of their race 
or ethnicity but because they embrace America's values.
  Never before in American history have those ideals been tested as 
they have been in the last 4 years. A hallmark of the former 
administration was a relentless attack on immigrants. One of the main 
targets were the very Dreamers whom I spoke to President Trump about, 
young immigrants who came to the United States as children.
  It was 11 years ago that I joined with then-Senator Dick Lugar of 
Indiana on a bipartisan basis to call on President Obama to use his 
legal authority to protect Dreamers from deportation. Our argument was 
simple: These young people were brought to the United States as 
children. Their parents made the decision to come here. They grew up 
here, went to school here, pledged allegiance to that very flag every 
day in their classrooms, and believed they were part of this country.
  Usually sometime in their teenage years, their parents sat down with 
them and told them the grim reality: They have no country--not the one 
they left nor the one they currently live in.
  So I introduced legislation 20 years ago, the DREAM Act, in an effort 
to give them a chance, a chance to earn their way to legal status and 
citizenship, but I have been unable to enact that into law in both the 
House and the Senate in any given year. I have been stymied and stopped 
by the filibuster too many times.
  President Obama knew that. When he was a Senator here before being 
elected to be President, he was a cosponsor of my DREAM Act, so I knew 
where his heart was and I appealed to him--could he do something. And 
he did. He created DACA.
  DACA, by Executive order, provided temporary protection from 
deportation to Dreamers. If they register with the government, pay a 
fee, and pass a criminal and national security background check, they 
could have a temporary right to work here in the United States and be 
free from deportation.
  More than 800,000 Dreamers came forward with President Obama's DACA. 
DACA unleashed the full potential of these Dreamers, who are 
contributing to our country this very day as soldiers, teachers, and 
business owners. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 
200,000 DACA recipients have been characterized as ``essential critical 
infrastructure workers'' during this pandemic. That wasn't my 
designation; it was the designation of the Trump administration. Among 
those essential workers are 41,700 DACA recipients in the healthcare 
industry--doctors, intensive care nurses, paramedics, and respiratory 
therapists.
  Well, on September 5, 2017, former President Trump repealed DACA. 
Hundreds of thousands of Dreamers faced losing their work permits and 
being deported to countries they barely remembered, if they remembered 
them at all.
  Last summer, the Supreme Court rejected President Trump's effort to 
end deportation protection for Dreamers. In an opinion by Chief Justice 
John Roberts, the Court held that the President's attempt to rescind 
DACA was ``arbitrary and capricious.''
  Today, in one of his first official acts, President Joseph Biden 
signed an Executive order to restore DACA. I am eternally grateful for 
President Biden's courage and commitment in keeping his word. Without 
DACA, hundreds of thousands of talented young people who have grown up 
in our country cannot continue their work and risk deportation every 
single day.
  But the resumption of DACA is just the first step toward long-overdue 
justice for Dreamers. Only legislation passed by Congress can provide a 
path to citizenship to the Dreamers. I first introduced the bipartisan 
DREAM Act 20 years ago, as I mentioned, and I will continue to do so 
until it becomes the law of the land.
  I am honored that I have a chance to serve as chairman of the Senate 
Judiciary Committee in the 117th Congress. As a child of an immigrant 
myself, I never dreamed that I would be blessed with the opportunity to 
lead the committee that writes our Nation's immigration laws.
  To all of the Dreamers out there, I have told you many times: I have 
never given up on you; don't give up on me. I am going to pass the 
DREAM Act.
  Over the years, I have come to the floor with the most persuasive 
approach I can think of to pass the DREAM Act and make it the law of 
the land. I tell their stories. These stories show what is at stake 
when we consider DACA and the DREAM Act. It is not a theory. It is not 
just a law. These are real, human lives.
  Today I want to tell you about Hina Naveed. She is the 127th Dreamer 
whose story I have told on the floor of the Senate.
  Hina was born in Pakistan and came to the United States from Dubai 
when she was 10 years old. She grew up in Fall River, MA.
  She sent me a letter, and here is what she said about growing up:

       I had a pretty typical experience navigating a new country 
     and new school system. It wasn't until I turned 16 and my 
     peers were getting their permits and their first jobs that I 
     really felt the impact of being undocumented.

  Hina was an excellent student. In high school, she was president of 
the National Honor Society and Key Club. She graduated as the 
salutatorian of her class, ranked second out of 350 students with a 4.0 
GPA. She received the Outstanding Vocational Student for Health Careers 
Award and Overall Outstanding Vocational Student Award.
  She went to the City University of New York College of Staten Island, 
where she earned associate's degrees in liberal arts and nursing and a 
bachelor of science in nursing. She studied at CUNY Law School, where 
she graduated with a law degree.
  Thanks to DACA, Hina became a registered nurse. She worked as 
director of health services for a nonprofit, community-based 
organization in New York. Her department provides healthcare services 
for children in foster care, many of whom are victims of medical 
neglect. She is also a member of the New York City Medical Reserve 
Corps. At the height of the pandemic, she volunteered on weekends at a 
hospital and at a residential facility with COVID-19 patients.
  Hina wrote to me about her plans:

       I want to work on health policy reform at a local and state 
     level in an effort to achieve health equity for all. This 
     pandemic has highlighted health disparities that have long 
     existed, and I want to be part of making the change I want to 
     see and experience.

  Here is what Hina said about DACA and what it meant to her:

       DACA has been life-changing. It has allowed me to drive, 
     work, achieve fiscal independence, continue higher education, 
     and contribute to my community more than I would have been 
     able to otherwise. However, it is temporary, and with the 
     benefits it provides, it has also cast a shadow over my life, 
     forcing me to plan my life in 2-year increments.

  Well, let me start by saying thank you to her, to Hina Naveed, for 
her service on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. All of us 
are in awe of our healthcare heroes. She is an immigrant healthcare 
hero. She is a DACA healthcare hero. She has put herself and her family 
at risk to protect others. She also shouldn't have to worry about being 
deported tomorrow and her family facing division.
  Will America be a stronger country if we just up and deport her or if 
she became an American citizen? I think the choice is clear.
  Hina and hundreds of thousands of other Dreamers are counting on 
those of us who serve in the Senate. So here is where we stand. The 
Senate Judiciary Committee will soon organize--I hope very soon--and I 
will have an opportunity to appeal to my colleagues on both sides of 
the table to join me in a bipartisan effort to pass the DREAM Act.
  President Biden has made it his clear priority, and I share it. I 
want this to be the first measure that we consider in the area of 
immigration. But I know we live in a 50-50 Senate, and it is possible 
that once again I will need to muster 60 votes to pass this on the 
floor. So, whatever we do, it has to be bipartisan. That means it won't 
have everything in it that I want or everything that maybe Hina or the 
advocates want, but we have to take a step forward once and for all to 
help these young people.
  As long as I am a Senator, I will continue to fight for Hina Naveed 
and for people who have come to this country just to make it better. It 
would be an

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American tragedy to deport this brave and talented healthcare 
professional in the midst of a pandemic. We must ensure that she and 
hundreds of thousands of our essential workforce are not forced to stop 
contributing when the need for their service has never been greater, 
and we must give them the chance they deserve to become American 
citizens.
  I cannot express my gratitude enough for President Biden, in the 
first hours that he was in office, recognizing the needs of the DACA 
recipients and the Dreamers. I want to work with him and work with both 
parties across the aisle to make this dream come true for so many who 
deserve it. They have waited long enough.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.

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