Last weekend marked the 7th anniversary of the Obama administration announcing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a victory led by undocumented immigrant youth. Under the program, Dreamers have been able to apply for two-year worker permits, protection from deportation, and get some peace of mind.
But under the Trump administration, the program has been under relentless attack, throwing the lives of hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who have known no other place but the U.S. as home into limbo. In a number of tweets and statements, a number of Democratic candidates for president pledged to take steps to protect undocumented youth and their families.
The former Housing and Urban Development secretary further said that as he works with Congress on passing permanent protections, he will “immediately reinstate” both the DACA and Temporary Protected Status programs in order to provide these immigrant families with immediate relief. Other Democratic candidates joined him in making similar pledges.
“Dreamers deserve peace of mind,” tweeted U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California. “As president, I will take action to reinstate and expand DACA. I won’t stop fighting until Dreamers are finally recognized as American citizens.” She has released a plan pledging to use executive action to open up a path to citizenship for Dreamers, which immigration expert David Leopold said he believes can “stand up to any assault in the courts.”
Like Castro and Harris, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s immigration plan includes fully restoring DACA as he fights to pass a “pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and expedited eligibility for DREAMers” in the Congress. “In Washington,” he tweeted, “we know that immigrants strengthen and enrich our communities.”
More top 2020 contenders also tweeted out their support of undocumented immigrant youth:
“We have work to do, because you, Dreamers, are citizens in every way except for a piece of paper,” said U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey. “We will change that, we will continue the activism, continue the work, until you have your citizenship, and don’t have to live under the insecure cloud of a president that demeans and degrades your legitimacy … we will win this battle.”
South Bed, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg shared a popular thread that featured first-person accounts from DACA recipients about where they were when they found out the Obama administration was going to implement a program that would offer them vital protections. “We need to go further and create for them, and the other undocumented immigrants living here, a path to citizenship.” Buttigieg said.