[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11051]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    STANDING UP FOR THE DACA PROGRAM

  (Mr. POLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, Colorado is home to 17,000 Deferred Action 
for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, recipients. This program is an 
essential help in our dysfunctional immigration system. It allows young 
people who only know the U.S. as home to legally reside and work here.
  Through my congressional service, I have been moved by the stories of 
DACA recipients who have bravely spoken up for their communities and 
only want to positively contribute to our country, young people like 
Brayan.
  Brayan is a business marketing and finance major at Colorado State 
University, in my district. He moved here with his family at a young 
age. He was only 3. He doesn't even remember making the trek from 
Chihuahua, Mexico, to Colorado. He grew up here, attended elementary 
and high school here. He didn't even know he was undocumented until he 
was in eighth grade.
  DACA has allowed Brayan to come out of the shadows and live with a 
sense of security rather than anxiety and fear. In Brayan's words, DACA 
has put hope in the hearts of the forgotten.
  What I want Brayan and others like him to know is: You are not 
forgotten, not by me, not by those of us in the community who know you 
and love you.
  I stand by Brayan's side, and I will fight to ensure that the DACA 
program is continued for the 17,000 recipients in Colorado and 800,000 
nationwide. The bottom line is that Brayan and others like him belong 
here.

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