[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9553-9554]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    3RD ANNIVERSARY OF DACA PROGRAM

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I want to thank the Democratic leader for 
his kind words.
  Today is the third anniversary of DACA.
  It was 15 years ago when I received a call to my Senate office in 
Chicago. A Korean-American woman who worked at a drycleaners in the 
city of Chicago had a question for me. It turned out that her daughter, 
Tereza Lee, had been offered an opportunity to go to school at one of 
the best music schools in America, but she had problems filling out her 
application.
  The whole story is that this family had come through Brazil from 
Korea to the United States years before. The family, including Tereza, 
who was then 2 years old, came in on a tourist visa. The idea behind 
their arrival in America was that her father was going to open a 
church. He would be a minister with his own congregation. It was a 
dream that was never realized. The family struggled. They were very 
poor. Tereza's mother went to work at a drycleaners. Her father didn't 
work much. He had health problems.
  Luckily, Tereza, this young girl, when she was about 10 or 12 years 
old, was enrolled in a music program in Chicago called the Merit Music 
Program. The Merit Music Program offers to children from poor families 
musical instruction and instruments. They introduced Tereza to the 
piano, and an amazing thing happened. She turned out to be an 
incredible musician. So she was finishing high school and was offered 
an opportunity to go to school in New York to a music school--the 
Manhattan School of Music.
  She had other offers, too, but when she went to fill out the 
application and they asked her to put in her citizenship and 
nationality, she asked her dad and mom: What am I supposed to put 
there? They said: We didn't file any papers for you. You are 
technically undocumented in America. Your sister and brother were born 
here and are legal citizens. We have become legal in America, but as 
for you, we are not sure. So what should we do? Let's call Durbin's 
office.
  They called my Senate office and the law is very clear. If you were 
brought to the United States undocumented and lived your entire life 
here and wanted to stay here, the law said you had to leave the United 
States for 10 years and then apply to come back.
  They asked me if there was anything else under the law, and I said 
no, that was it. It is because of that that I introduced the DREAM Act 
15 years ago. This DREAM Act said that young people under circumstances 
like Tereza's, who were brought to the United States at a very young 
age, were raised in this country, were finishing school, and who had no 
criminal record, would be given a chance--a chance to become legal in 
America, the DREAM Act.
  Well, that DREAM Act has been a dream for 15 years. It is not a law. 
But, fortunately for me, when I served in the Senate, at one point I 
had a colleague named Barack Obama, who was my fellow Senator and 
cosponsor of the DREAM Act in his day. When he became President and it 
became clear we were not going to pass comprehensive immigration reform 
or make the DREAM Act the law of the land, this President said: I will 
give to these young people who would qualify for the DREAM Act 
temporary status so they can stay in America on a temporary basis 
without fear of deportation. That is what the President did 3 years ago 
with DACA, deferred action for childhood arrivals.
  As the Democratic leader reported, 660,000 young people have signed 
up, paid a hefty filing fee, had a criminal background check, and 
submitted their names to the government. It was a leap of faith for 
these young people to do this because if you grew up undocumented in 
America, you were told at a very early age by your parents: For 
goodness' sakes, keep your head down; don't ever get arrested; don't 
try to drive a car. Not only could you get deported, our whole family 
could get deported.
  Well, these young people wanted to be heard, and they stepped up and 
they signed up for the President's program.
  It has been an incredible story. Five years ago, in April 2010, I 
joined with my former colleague Richard Lugar in writing a letter to 
President Obama asking him to establish this program. Later that year, 
Senator Reid, who just spoke, brought the DREAM Act to the Senate 
floor. The Senate Gallery was filled with young people, undocumented 
people, who came for that bill to be considered wearing caps and gowns. 
They wanted to make it clear they were not looking for a free ride in 
America. They were looking for a chance. But despite the fact that 55 
Senators out of 100 voted for it, we did not get the magic number--60--
and the DREAM Act did not become law.
  Senator Reid joined me, with 22 other Democratic Senators, asking 
President Obama to create this DACA Program so these children could 
sign up. The President did. It is an amazing success. What has happened 
to these DREAMers when they are given a chance to have a future in 
America, when they are not afraid of the knock on the door and being 
deported? Well, what has happened? Amazing things have happened. They 
are beginning to contribute to America as engineers, teachers, small 
business owners, and more.
  I know this policy of the President to give these young people a 
chance to be part of America absolutely infuriates most of my 
Republican colleagues. They cannot stand the thought that the President 
by Executive order would give these young people a chance. In fact, the 
House of Representatives on several occasions has tried to reverse this 
and take away this recognition that these young people can stay here on 
a temporary basis without being deported.
  Last fall, the President extended the program in what is known as 
DAPA--deferred action for parental accountability--for those who have 
been here for a long period of time and would also be given temporary 
status, registered with the government, and be able to work in our 
country.

[[Page 9554]]

  Today, the Center for American Progress released a new report on the 
impact on the economy of the United States of these people eligible for 
DACA, the young people, and DAPA, their parents. Over the next 10 
years, in my home State of Illinois, these two Presidential policies 
will increase my State's gross domestic product by almost $15 billion, 
and it will increase the overall earnings of the people living in my 
State.
  How is that possible? How is it possible to take these undocumented 
people and turn them into a positive for the economy? Well, I will tell 
you, that is what happens when they are on the books and working and 
paying their taxes, as they want to be, as they should be.
  Senator John McCain of Arizona was just on the floor. He was one of 
four Republican Senators--it took some courage--who stepped up and 
worked with four of us on the Democratic side to write a comprehensive 
immigration bill. We believe that our immigration system is broken in 
America, and we want to fix it. We met together for months working on 
that bill. One of the good reports that came out of the bill was that a 
comprehensive immigration system where people register, submit 
themselves to a background check, and pay their taxes has a positive 
impact on the economy of the United States.
  Unfortunately, the expansion of these two programs has been blocked 
by a lawsuit in Texas filed against the President. Earlier this month, 
Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to block the 
administration from any money to defend this lawsuit. That amendment 
was offered by a Republican Congressman from Iowa named Steve King, who 
has falsely claimed that DREAMers are actually drug dealers with 
``calves the size of cantaloupes''--a direct quote from Congressman 
King--because they are carrying drugs across our border. That is a 
cruel game Congressman King is playing with the lives of these young 
people. And now they want to fix the game by blocking the Obama 
administration from defending the lawsuit. Clearly, the proponents of 
this lawsuit and their destructive efforts will ultimately fail. But 
the Supreme Court has been clear--the President has the power to make 
these policies.

  It is so troubling that so many on the other side of the aisle are 
determined to block immigration in America.
  I have come to the floor many times to tell the stories of these 
DREAMers, and I would like to tell one of those stories today on the 
third anniversary of this DACA Program.
  As shown in picture, this is Denisse Rojas. In 1990, when she was 
just a little infant, her parents carried her across the southwest 
border with the hope of giving her and her siblings a better life. 
Denisse and her family settled in Fremont, CA. Denisse said: ``In grade 
school, I recall feeling different from my peers. . . . my skin color 
was darker, my English was stilted, I was poor, and I was 
undocumented.''
  Denisse remembers her dad in a restaurant uniform studying late at 
night so he could pass the GED test. And her mother attended community 
college part time for 7 years to earn a nursing degree. It was this 
perseverance that inspired Denisse to try harder.
  In high school she was an excellent student and athlete. She 
graduated with a 4.3 grade point average, and she received the U.S. 
Army Reserve National Scholar Athlete Award.
  Denisse was accepted to the University of California, Berkeley--one 
of the best colleges in the country--but because of her undocumented 
status, she did not qualify for any financial aid or government help. 
Denisse worked 30 hours a week while attending school full time, and 
she commuted an hour each way to and from school every day so she could 
live in affordable housing.
  At Berkeley, Denisse Rojas majored in integrative biology and 
sociology. Because she was such a good student, she was selected to 
work in the genetics lab. Her research was published in the journal 
Science.
  I ask unanimous consent for 2 additional minutes. I know the Senator 
is anxious, but if I could have 2 minutes.
  Mr. McCAIN. Will the Senator allow me to propound a unanimous consent 
request?
  Mr. DURBIN. Of course.
  I am sorry, the staff said we have one more thing to check. If you 
will give me 2 minutes.
  Mr. McCAIN. Please proceed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. I thank the Presiding Officer.
  I would have gladly yielded to my friend from Arizona but a higher 
order prevails.
  As a senior at Berkeley, Denisse cofounded Pre-Health Dreamers, a 
national organization of undocumented students who want to become 
health care professionals.
  She volunteers at the San Francisco General Hospital Community to 
Clinic Linkage Program, where she helps patients who are seeking 
affordable housing, healthy food, and employment.
  In 2012, when President Obama established DACA--its third anniversary 
today--her life changed. As a DACA recipient, Denisse's dreams finally 
seemed within reach.
  In this picture I have in the Chamber, Denisse is holding her letter 
of acceptance to Mount Sinai Medical School in New York. She will be in 
classes this fall. She wrote me a letter. She said:
  I have pledged allegiance to this nation's values since my first day 
of school; I consider the United States my home. Furthermore, serving 
others has instilled in me the notion that everyone deserves the 
opportunity for prosperity. I thus aim to dedicate my life to serving 
others as a physician and continuing to be a voice for immigrants.
  Would America be a better country if she were deported? Would we be 
better as a nation if Denisse Rojas was told: Leave. We don't need you. 
We don't want you. The fact that you have spent your entire life here 
means nothing. The fact that you are an exceptional student means 
nothing. Leave.
  It sounds like a harsh point of view, but it is shared by many in 
Congress.
  This last weekend, I took my two little grandkids--my wife and I 
did--out to the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island. I took a look at 
that statue and was reminded that we are a nation of immigrants. I was 
blessed that my mother came to this country as an immigrant, and I 
stand on the Senate floor trying to do my best to make it a better 
country.
  There are people like Denisse Rojas who want to make this a better 
America. DACA has given them that chance. Today, we celebrate the third 
anniversary of this Executive order, but more importantly, we celebrate 
who we are--a nation of immigrants always striving to make life better 
for the next generation.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and thank my colleague from Arizona.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.

                          ____________________