The United States at 3 years old. All of her friends and immediate and most extended family who are citizens and residents live near her in new york. Shes a fulltime caretaker for a family in brooklyn with two 14 month old sons. One who has special needs and requires physical therapy. Although the childs special need were not known when she was hired, she was risen to the occasion with grace, calm, and competence according to the family of the were devastated by the thought she may not be able to continue to work in this country. And no, we wont find another caregiver who is as reliable, nurturing, and unshakable as brit nifment she submitted her renewal application september 21 but sent back to her on october 5 because she forgot to sign her name in one place. She sent it back immediately but rejected. Untimely. Hugo in texas, houston, texas. A 34yearold father who lives in houston, texas. He came to the United States from mexico when he was 6 and lived in houston ever since. He he completed grade school works at a he completed wor k through 1 in houston. Hugo found out from one text message of a friend on september 6 that he needed to apply before october 5 or risk losing his dacament he decided to quitly put together his application as his daca was set to expire september 9, 2017. Hurricane harvey, just hit the houston area. While his home was not destroyed, the entire city of houston was shut down. Including many businesses, his work was one of them. He had to borrow half the money for the application fee because he couldnt get 495 together. He was unable to get it mailed until october 4, which still of deadline. Uscis received his application on october 6. On november 1, hugo received a letter from uscis denying his renewal. You know if he got his they knew october 6 it was mailed before october 5. In time. But they turned him they knew it was down. Thats the thats why the point i want to make here these are tents now that people have been technicalities now that people have been turned down on. And would that we all could live up to the standard that sign in every place with the date and this and that even though the information is contained in the package. Hurricanes intervened in the mail service or the opportunity to put the package together. No mitigation. No consideration for that. Thats really hurricanes unfort because the American People are the losers in all of that. Fernando writes, i arrived in the u. S. Age 2 wearing a pink parka and matching pants clutching my mom. A single bag and abandoned her family in search of a bert life. Besides nigh father in the u. S. , my dad was already in alabama and they were wanting to be by his side. And the year before his decision to leave mexico he had been assaulted five times and abandoned her family in search of a bert life. Besides nigh father in the u. S. , my had his wedding band stolen twice. Since arriving to the states, they have been able to start four businesses and create jobs. They purchased two cars and put me through college. They also have helped their u. S. Born son reach his goal to being a professional Soccer Player and on the Olympic Development program team for the southeast region. Sheila jackson lee was with us in the chamber earlier. Her story is one of these young People Living with uncertainty is caesar, a dreamer from houston who came to america from mexico at the age of 6. Cesar adopted quickly to the texas home and became a standout student ackseg at programs for the gifted and talented throughout his primary and secondary education. Faced with the constant threat of deportation, he and his family were forced to have an emergency plan in place in the event one of his family families were detained. Espinoza graduated from high school near the top of his class and was accepted into some of americas most prestigious universities, including yale. But his undocumented status prevented him from obtaining Financial Assistance nearly shattering his college ambition. He could have given up on the instead he chose to make a difference. I know there are other young people just like me. They need someone to fight for them and try to make a way. Instead he when he founded fie immigrant Rights Organization based in houston. Congresswoman barbara lees constituent, emily,. A resident of alameda, california. She came to the u. S. When she was 9 from her family in south korea in the year 2000. She currently works the Community Health work in a federally qualified Health Center in oakland, california. Serving underserved a. P. I. Community. She graduate interested u. C. Berkley in 2017 and been working as a Community Health worker ever since. Emily says daca has changed her life and the lives of her family members. She was able to finally contribute to her familys Living Expenses upon graduation and to continue to pursue her dreams. Emily is grateful for the protection she received under daca, but shes also deeply concerned about her mother and friends who dont have the same opportunity to come out of the shadows. While my rights as a deserving american were justified that it was no fault of my own, it automatically criminalizes my mother whose love, sacrifice, and resilience made it possible for my and my siblings to be where were today. I am thankful for her courage and sacrifice she made. Emilys storys a reminder that we must protect dreamers but never give up the fight for comprehensive Immigration Reform. Its past time for long to pass the clean dream act. Jose, 22 years old. When i was 4 years old, can you imagine, my parents took my little sister and me and packed up everything they owned. We got on a plane and headed to the United States to escape a country in which early stages of turmoil. My parents gave up everything they had to provide us with a sliver of a chance once they knew we couldnt live in venezuela. They made it a point to raise us well while shedding us from racism and fears of deportation. Eventually we came to understand how many doors were closed to us. We pray for something, anything, daca was that something. Daca has given me hope and real chance. More importantly given me a voice. Can i proudly tell my story to anyone who is willing to listen. A story about a family who is determined persistence and pursuit of an american life. Dacas removal would rip that away from us, ending daca would hurt more than much more than 00,000 people. People not just with dreams and people that ut want to be seen, understood, and welcomed. They are your friends and neighbors listen, this is so important. Your friends and neighbors. They are your schoolteachers, doctors, they need you to come to their side and help. Call congress. Have an open people that rely o be seen, conversation, on facts. This goes on and on. Its just seems like its just an easy rely on facts. This solution. There are plenty of challenges we have that are complex, comprehensive Immigration Reform. Issues that relate to how we prepare our country for jobs for the 21st century. How we prepare our workers and Education System and the rest. But in all of that we have to be strong as a country. And to be strong as a country true to our values. To be true to our values is to respect, to respect the aspirations of true to our values. To be people who are our future. Our young people are our future. And these dreamers are part of that. They have been. They have enriched our community. They have been enriched by our community. By the goodness of the American People. By the greatness of our country. And so our plea to the speaker is not just one for the dreamers, our plea to the speaker is for us to for us, for ourselves, to honor the vows of our founders, our pay george patriarch, washington, and others who followed him. But also make it a beacon of hope to the rest of the world. Claudia came to the United States when she was 5. Her family brought me to a country i would call home, new language, culture, way of life. I was brought here by loving parents who wanted what was best for my future. Running away from poverty and leaving family behind in hopes of a better life. Daca allowed me to have my chance at a better tomorrow. I am now medical assistant and third year student at the university of utah. I am not an illegal alien. Nor am i a criminal or rapist. I am a human. Im one of the 800,000 dreamers who thrive for a better fuhr. Americas my home. I didnt choose to be undocumented but i do decide to keep fighting for what is right. I keep moving forward. Undocumented and unafraid. I am a dreamer and i am here to stay. Did i tell you about juan . With much foresight on the oncoming political evidence, my parents fled venezuela. In 2000. With my brothers and me in tow. We learned an immigration attorney mishandled our case which meant after six years of legal fees and paying taxes we were no longer on the path to u. S. Citizenship. By the time president obama announced a deferred action for hildhood Arrivals Program in 2012, i graduate interested Florida State university with a Political Science degree. I fought and lost two legislative fights to support the 2012, i dream act. Helped enact a law in florida that would provide instate tuition for undocumented students across the state and helped organize thousands of dreamers from across the country. Since 2013 daca has froketted my brothers and me. I was able to return to f. S. U. For a masters degree in public dministration. I am a tallahassee resident. Mella came to the United States at 6. I now lived in the United States for 21 years. Currently i work fulltime as special education paraprofessional. April he also a college student. Working on my Third College degree. How many of us can make that claim . In may of 2018 im be graduating sumea couple laudy with a bachelor degree in elementary education. Aal leng i have had to overcome accepting situations out of my control and have the strength to lead me to prevail in the end. I went to college to become a nurse. In 2011 my junior year of college i graduated fromle could ledge with an associate degree in nursing. I was unable to get a license due to my status. I was embarrassed i could see former peers working as nurses and i wasnt. Incapable but as because hi never been taken the opportunity to get the license. I finished my senior year in college incapable but because hi never been taken ove state i reside in as changed to allow Daca Recipients to receive drivers license, professional license, and certification. That is a fwulte thing. We want that beautiful thing but we want that for the whole country. Certain things, the of dreamers to our society, the work they do every day of with the American People of which they consider themselves to be a part. The benefits they have received from working and knowing people in our country. Benefit interesting the greatness of the American People. The reciprocity they have given back and honoring the American Dream, working hard with a work ethic. An ethic of faith and family and community and a work ethic. Usually typical of an Immigration Community as many of us who are families from the immigrant community, which are all of us, unless we happen to be very blessed to be important a native american in our country. How beautiful some of the native American Families in our country have been to our newcomers, to our country. Our country should all be that welcoming. I think our country is. Thats why the numbers are in the 80s and 90s in terms of support for the dreamers and even in the 70s among republicans for a path to citizenship. Carlos writes, i am 19. Born in mexico. I moved to houston when i was a year old. A year old. Was raised there my entire life. Im currently a student at the university of texas, austin. My biggest dream is to provide my parents with everything they need without them having to work. They sacrificed so much and continue to do so. I feel the least coy do daca gives me that opportunity. Without it my dream has become uncertain. This one of the things that i think many families in transition, that is to say the upward mobility of education in our country and length of time that families have been here, is the story of their respect for their parents. To see opportunities that they have, that dreamers in this case have, but just take any people in our country, that one generation has tremendous opportunity because of the sacrifice of their parents and grandparents. One of the attitudes aye heard from people, while theyre enjoying and grateful for everything they have and the opportunity to give back to society, they have a certain sadness that their parents didnt have that same opportunity for education, reach their personal aspirations. Their aspiration was to make the future better for their children, they certainly were successful at that, but still among some young people, you hear, i wish my parents could have had this tint. How many people have ever said, if only my mother would have had this opportunity . Thats in every generation, practically, because the opportunities for women have changed so much. Ut in any case, i have a neighbor,est palo alto, in the heart of Silicon Valley, writes, i grew up in the horte they have Silicon Valley before and after the bubble. Despite growing up in a community of violence you may not know that, despite having so. Ch on weekends i helped my dad clean office buildings. I picked up trash, we filled the trash can in every room. Today im one of those in Conference Rooms white boarding with solve the toughest problems in big data. Imagine being sneaked in in the trash barrel, helping to clean offices and now being one of the working the leader in the room, white boarding with engineers and managers. Anyone who thinks East Palo Alto is a precious community doesnt live there anymore. I had to become street smart and know as an immigrant and only child i wasnt in a fogs fight back. And ld keep a low pro File Community of east palo with ut many in touch eople, a couple volunteered sponsored me from sixth to 12th fwrade. I met christina, or chris, who has been a mentor and friend. She helped me become a better reader and evenen chally edited a manuscript for a book. It aloud me to stay safe i feel couldnt get a cell phone, if something happened to me i couldnt call 911. I didnt have a credit history. A stanforded me School Student helped me out though the phone was under her name, i paid her in cash for part of my bill every month. So again, you see, no status new york credit, no Social Security number, no drivers license, s debilitating and doubly worse because so many people are making such a valuable contribution to our society. Learning from the american eople and giving back. Manarie said ill study Political Science in the fall. Coming to this country at 6 years old change midlife. Learning english, i everyone in my family spoke span arab and only had an elementary education. But this inspired me to dream big. After graduation, i hope to go to law school and become an Immigration Lawyer to help and give back to my community. Hope one day your status doesnt discourage you but encourages and embraces democracy. So many stories of so many dreamers, i want to see if we have some more from our colleagues in terms of the ones that they submitted, we had received all of these from our colleague. Some of them identified as being from them or not. Proud, proudagain, of these young people. Not only are dreamers, but inspire the rest of us to dream. Mr. Speaker, i thank you for your courtesy. Im not finished yet. I thaufpk for your courtesy in the interim and just to say im taking this time because i think we have an opportunity now that is almost matchless. Were at a moment when we can all come together to dedo something really good for the country. Take an action that has bipartisan support. We have no right, any of us, to associate ourselves with the aspirations of the dreamers unless we are able to and willing and courageous enough to take action on their behalf. So while some of us have been more or less receptive to receiving dreamers, learning from them, being inspired by them, some have not been as exposed to these dreamers and their stories as others. I think if you had been, im not maybe you just werent exposed to them, but maybe youd be more receptive and this house listens to the voices of the American People who overwhelmingly support our dreamers. I dont know when well have another opportunity that matches today for us to just get a simple commitment from the speaker of the house that he will give us a vote. Theres no guarantee. Have the debate. People will weigh in. They will make their voices heard. Congress again will work its will. But do not diminish this house of representatives, this peoples house, a place where we dont have the right to express our views on the subject. So important to our country. That has such general support in the public. And yet the speaker of the house is saying, we dont matter. Here members of the house. We dont count in this consideration. Because maybe we just dont have the courage to do what we need to do. I believe we do. I believe many people on the republican side of the aisle have demonstrated even greater courage than some of us on this side. Its easy for me. But its also hard for me because we really, again, are in a position to do something and we feel helpless. Thats what the hard part is, helpless if our speaker of the whole house will not give this dignity to this house of representatives to be able to take a vote on the subject of broad debate in the country, but we cant debate a bill on th