[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19850-19851]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  DACA

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I stand today to talk about a different 
subject; that is, to stand in solidarity with over 12,000 of my 
Virginia constituents who are students, entrepreneurs, members of our 
military, and individuals who have the distinction of being Dreamers, 
like the nearly 800,000 Dreamers across our country.
  These people, many of them young folks, are worried about facing 
deportation--not for anything they have done wrong but because the vast 
majority of these young people were brought to this country as children 
many years ago. Today, unfortunately, due to no actions of their own, 
they are caught up in some of the worst of our Nation's politics.
  Up until this past September, these young people were living in the 
United States legally under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals 
Program or what has been called DACA. As part of this program, these 
young people came out of the shadows, paid a fee, went through an 
extensive background check, and complied with all the other 
requirements of the DACA Program. Unfortunately, Dreamers and their 
families are now in a perilous situation because, unfortunately, 
President Trump ended the DACA Program, literally putting hundreds of 
thousands of these young people in a state of legal limbo.
  Unfortunately, while a number of my colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle want to work through this problem, we hear the Republican 
leadership has done nothing to provide that permanent solution for 
these hard-working young Americans. That is who they are, folks who 
have lived here oftentimes for decades. This is not how the greatest 
country on Earth should treat anyone, especially these young people 
who, in most cases, have only one nation they have called home, and 
that is our country, the United States.
  I am not the only one who thinks this. As I mentioned, there are 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have been coming to the floor 
for weeks making this point. The fact is, more than three-quarters of 
Americans of all political stripes support a pathway to permanent legal 
status for Dreamers. Here in the Senate, my friends, Senator Lindsey 
Graham and Senator Dick Durbin, have introduced the bipartisan Dream 
Act and have been actively working toward its passage.
  In the Senate and the House, there are enough votes to pass this 
bipartisan legislation if leadership would only bring it to the floor, 
and that is just not the case in the Senate. Last week, my friend 
Congressman Scott Taylor, a fellow Virginian and a Republican, led a 
bipartisan group of 30 Members in the House again asking the House 
leadership to find a legislative solution--not next year, not next 
month but now.
  Unfortunately, it seems like folks on the other side of the aisle 
would rather treat this as a political issue and a political pawn to be 
negotiated, probably not even this year but at some future date. By 
doing so, they leave these young people in a state of limbo and really 
subject to a great deal of legal uncertainty. For many of these young 
people, as they cycle out of the program--close to 1,000 a week--even 
if we come up with a legal solution, their ability to rejoin the 
program and reclaim their legal status may be extinguished. The truth 
is, this is not just another political leverage point.
  Let me take a moment or two and talk about some of the folks who are 
affected in my State--folks in my State, folks whom I call real 
Virginians.
  I think about one young student from Northern Virginia, whom I chose 
as my guest to the President's State of the Union Address a few years 
ago. I was so impressed with her work ethic and her passion for 
improving the lives of others that I asked her to serve after that as 
an intern in my office, where she did great work serving fellow 
Virginians.
  I think about a law student I met recently in Williamsburg who was 
born in England and brought here when she was just 1 year old. Right 
now, it is getting close to the holidays. She is probably tucked away 
in some corner of the library studying for her law school exams. She 
told me she wanted to get that law degree to help fellow Virginians 
when she graduates. I say we shouldn't stand in her way.
  I think again about a young man I met from Newport News whose mother 
brought him to the United States when he was just 6 years old. Sadly, 
his mother passed away before he graduated from high school, but I know 
when he walked across the stage of that graduation as valedictorian of 
his class, his mom would have been proud. Hopefully, if this program is 
renewed when he graduates from Virginia Tech next year with a degree in 
engineering, he will put those skills to work.
  These are just a few examples about the smart, successful, young 
Virginians who also carry the categorization of being called Dreamers. 
The truth is, in Virginia, we have a vibrant and growing immigrant 
community that contributes to all facets of life in the Commonwealth.
  While I talk today about Dreamers, I also want to make mention of 
another program that is caught up in some of these last-minute 
negotiations, the so-called TPS individuals--oftentimes individuals 
from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and certain folks who have lived 
in this country for decades whose legal status is also in jeopardy.
  The truth is, whether they are a Dreamer or someone who has been a 
beneficiary of the TPS Program, the truth is, immigrants in Virginia 
are all across our community. They are doctors, caretakers, small 
business owners, high-tech entrepreneurs. Quite

[[Page 19851]]

honestly, they are also our next-door neighbors. They are motivated, 
talented individuals who want to help and continue contributing to the 
Commonwealth of Virginia and to our country.
  What we tell them every day that we fail to act, every day that more 
and more of these young people fall out of eligibility, we tell them, 
in pretty direct ways, that actually even though they have served, 
studied, and worked here, that at least some in this Chamber don't 
really want them here. They would rather urge them to take their 
talents elsewhere.
  As somebody who has been in business longer than I have been in 
politics, I can state that these young people are an enormous asset, 
and urging them to leave the Commonwealth or our country is a bad 
business decision.
  As I said, unfortunately, with every day that passes, more and more 
Dreamers face the very real and terrifying prospect of being oftentimes 
sent to a country they barely know or may not know at all for an 
offense they were too young to even know they committed. That is just 
not right.
  It is not right that their lives should hang in the balance as they 
wait and wait and wait for Congress to solve this problem--a problem 
that I know, if it were brought to the floor, would receive 
overwhelming bipartisan support. These young people can't wait any 
longer and shouldn't wait any longer. It is time to pass the Dream Act 
right now.
  Thank you.
  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. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Blunt). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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