Senator Dick Durbin's Final Push for DACA and the Dream Act

The Immigrant Nation

• 🇺🇸 Senator Dick Durbin shares his personal connection to immigration, highlighting his mother's naturalization certificate from Lithuania as a symbol of his family's immigrant story.
• 🎯 He emphasizes that while immigration has historically presented challenges, it has also offered immense opportunities, stating, "We are a nation of immigrants."
• ✅ Durbin outlines basic principles for immigration: an orderly border process, preventing dangerous individuals from entering, removing those who pose a danger, and creating a path for those with good intentions to work and contribute.

The Story of Terresa Lee and the Dream Act

• 💡 The story of Terresa Lee, a Korean-born child prodigy musician who grew up in the US, illustrates the plight of undocumented individuals brought to the country as children.
• 🎶 Despite her musical talent and potential, Terresa faced deportation due to her undocumented status, prompting Durbin to introduce the Dream Act 24 years ago.
• ⚖️ The Dream Act aimed to provide a pathway to citizenship for young immigrants brought to the US as children, allowing them to pursue education and careers.

DACA and Ongoing Challenges

• 🚀 Established by President Obama over 13 years ago, the Deferred Action for Children Arrivals (DACA) program has protected over 830,000 young people from deportation.
• 💔 DACA recipients, often referred to as "dreamers," live in constant fear of deportation, with the program facing legal challenges and attempts to overturn it.
• 🔍 Durbin clarifies that DACA recipients undergo rigorous background checks, submit to government review, and pay substantial fees, debunking claims of them being a danger to communities.

Ani Lucia Lopez Bologo: A Case of Injustice

• 🇭🇳 Ani Lucia Lopez Bologo, brought to the US from Honduras at age eight, received a merit scholarship to college but was deported without due process.
• ✈️ Despite a court order blocking her deportation, the Trump administration sent her back to Honduras, a country she barely remembered.
• 🌟 Durbin uses Ani's story to challenge the narrative of immigrants being "the worst of the worst," emphasizing her determination and potential to contribute to America.

A Final Call to Action

• 📈 Durbin highlights a study indicating that rescinding DACA would result in a $60 billion loss in tax revenue and a decrease in US economic growth.
• 🤝 Durbin announces he is reintroducing the Dream Act with bipartisan support from Senator Lisa Murkowski, marking his final opportunity as a senator to pass the legislation.
• 🙏 He vows to do everything in his power to fight for dreamers and their future, urging them not to give up hope and calling for bipartisan work to secure borders while welcoming the right immigrants.