[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14609-14610]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  DACA

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, 15 years ago, a woman contacted my office 
in Chicago because she had a problem. It turned out that her daughter, 
who was about 17 years old or 18 years old at the time, had an 
extraordinary musical talent and had been accepted as a student at the 
Manhattan School of Music, as well as at the Juilliard School in New 
York.
  The problem was that her daughter was undocumented. She brought her 
little girl to the United States at the age of 2. This Korean girl, 
Tereza Lee, was raised in the United States by a family of very modest 
means, but she showed extraordinary talent at music, so much so that 
she was accepted at these great schools.
  When she went to fill out the application form and they asked for her 
nationality or citizenship status, she turned to her mother and said: 
What should I put here?
  Her mother said: Well, I never filed any papers after we brought you 
to this country, so I don't know.
  They called our office. The law was very clear. This young girl, who 
for 15 or 16 years had grown up in Chicago in modest circumstances, 
gone to school, done well, and excelled in her music, was in fact 
undocumented. Under the law of the United States of America, the only 
recourse for her--and it is still the case--was to leave this country 
for 10 years and apply to come back.
  I thought to myself: This little girl had nothing to say when the 
family decided to move to the United States when she was 2 years of 
age. She wasn't consulted. She didn't make a conscious decision. She, 
in fact, did everything she was expected to do in her life. She grew up 
believing that she would be in America, that she would be part of this 
country's future, but she has this undocumented status, an uncertain 
status.
  That is why, 15 years ago, I introduced the DREAM Act. It said to 
young women and men such as Tereza Lee: We will give you a chance. If 
you were brought to the United States as a child, you have gone through 
school and done well, and you have no serious criminal issues that 
worry us, we will give you a chance to earn your way into legal status 
and ultimately citizenship.
  The DREAM Act was introduced 15 years ago. Over the last 15 years, it 
has passed in the House some years and in the Senate in other years. It 
has never become the law of the land. It was a few years ago that I 
wrote a letter to then-President Obama--still President Obama--and 
asked him, as a cosponsor of my DREAM Act, could he do something to 
help these young people who were fearful they were going to be 
deported. Republican Senator Lugar of Indiana joined me in the letter, 
and later some 20 other Senators joined as well.
  President Obama studied it and asked his Attorney General and others 
to find a path, and he created an Executive action. That Executive 
action allows those who have been in a status such as Tereza Lee's a 
chance under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, or the 
DACA Program, to sign up with the government, to register with the 
government, to pay a filing fee of almost $500, and to go through a 
criminal background check. For that, if approved, they receive a 2-year 
temporary and renewable status.

[[Page 14610]]

That status would allow them to stay in the United States without fear 
of deportation and would allow them to work.
  Since the President's Executive action was launched, some 744,000 
young people have taken advantage of it.
  Many of their parents warned them. They said: Be careful. If you sign 
up with this government and tell them you are not here legally, they 
might use it against you.
  Some of those students, young people, and their parents came to me 
with that concern. I said to them: As long as you are following the 
law, as long as you are paying the fee, submitting yourself to a 
criminal background check, and understand this is only a temporary 
situation that can be renewed, do it. Be part of America. Be part of 
obeying the law, following the law, and, ultimately, I think it will be 
to your benefit.
  When I gave that advice, I could not have imagined that we would be 
facing a new President in just a few weeks with a totally different 
view on immigration. That President-elect, Donald Trump, has said some 
very hurtful and divisive things about immigration during the course of 
his campaign. Fortunately for us, it appears he is reflecting on those 
statements now, and some of those he is modifying, if not changing.
  I hope he will do the same when it comes to this. These 744,000 DACA-
eligible persons who are currently in the program, as well as others, 
should be given their chance in America. As long as they are no threat 
to our country, we should capitalize on their talents, on the education 
that they have received that we paid for, and give them a chance to 
make America better.
  I have stood on the floor many times--and I will today--to tell the 
story of just one of these students. It is one thing to talk about what 
they might bring to this country, and it is another thing to get to 
know them a little bit.
  This is a photograph of Yuri Hernandez. Yuri was 3 years old when her 
family brought her to the United States from Mexico. She grew up in 
Coos Bay, OR. In high school she was an honor roll student and was 
active in her community. She was an active member of the Key Club and 
the Kiwanis service program for students. She was voted homecoming 
princess of her high school and jubilee princess of Coos Bay.
  She attended the University of Portland, where she graduated with a 
bachelor's degree in social work. She received numerous awards and was 
involved in many extracurricular and volunteer activities. She was vice 
president of the Social Work Club, a board member of the National 
Association of Social Workers, and a member of Oregonians Against 
Trafficking Humans.
  When you hear about her record in college and what she has achieved, 
remember this: This young lady did not qualify for one penny of Federal 
assistance. Because she is undocumented, because she is a DREAMer, she 
was ineligible for the things that many students take for granted in 
America, such as Pell grants and government loans.
  Yuri had to find another way to do this. She had to work her way 
through school, borrowing money from parents. She faced hardships that 
many students don't face, but she overcame them. That speaks to her, 
her character, and her determination.
  She volunteered as a tutor for at-risk elementary school students. 
During her senior year in college, she was a full-time student and a 
full-time worker to pay for her college education.
  Do we need persons in America such as Yuri--so determined, so 
committed to their future that they are willing to make sacrifices many 
students don't make? Of course we do.
  Yuri is now a graduate student at the University of Michigan School 
of Social Work. Again, she doesn't qualify for any government 
assistance to go to school. She is planning on a graduate degree, a 
master's in social work, in the fall of 2017, and she still finds time 
to tutor and mentor high school students.
  She wants to give back to America. She wrote a letter to me about the 
DACA Program and said:

       DACA opened a lot of doors. I no longer wake up every day 
     fearing that I could be picked up and deported [out of the 
     United States]. . . . DACA changed my life completely and 
     allowed me to use my education.

  Would America be better if Yuri were deported, if she were sent away 
from this country to a country she has never known, one from which she 
was taken away when she was a child of 3 years of age?
  I think the answer is obvious.
  For her and for thousands such as her, this is a moment of testing. 
Will we in the United States of America, this Nation of diverse 
immigrants, this diverse Nation that believes in fairness and justice, 
give to those DREAMers, those DACA recipients, their chance to prove 
themselves? Will we hold these children responsible for decisions made 
by their parents or will we give them their own chance in life?
  Over the last few weeks, I have been home in Illinois, and I have 
talked to a lot of people who have come to know these DACA recipients 
and DREAMers. Many of these young people are despondent. With the new 
President, they are afraid they are going to lose any protection they 
currently have from deportation. Some of them have been driven to 
despair. Some have decided to leave the country, and, in some rare 
cases, there have been cases of suicide from their despondency.
  We can do better, America. We can say to these young people that, 
while Congress debates immigration and its future, we are going to make 
certain they are not penalized and hurt in the process.
  For Yuri and thousands just like her, we owe it to them to give them 
their chance.
  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. WICKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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