Childhood Arrivals Program or what is called daca was announce pd by president obama in 2012. Hundreds of thousands of young people brought to this country as children were at risk of being deported. They didnt take the action to come. Their parents took the action to come and bring them. President obamas executive order temporarily protected these undocumented young people from deportation. Daca also provides the opportunity to obtain work permits that has made it possible for many young daca beneficiaries to enroll in college. If congress doesnt act now and pass a law, President Trumps decision to terminate this program will have devastating consequences for the nearly 800,000 families across the United States, particularly those in california. This decision to end daca without first ensuring that young people have Legal Protection is why we are demanding a vote on the dream act as soon as possible. Daca recipients certainly deserve now, not six months from now. These young people trusted our government and its time we stopped playing with their lives. The dream act, introduced by senators graham and durbin, has been considered many times already by this congress. It was most recently included in the comprehensive Immigration Reform bill that passed the senate in 2013 with 68 votes. I remember it well. I remember weeks in committee. I remember dozens of amendments. I remember the time on the floor, the hope that we would be able to pass comprehensive Immigration Reform. It had an Agricultural Workers program in it. It had a program for undocumented children and hta and a plana plea. 68 votes here, but it didnt pass the house. I believe in have there is bipartisan support for the dream act. 70 of the people in this country are in favor of it. I believe it would pass if it were given an upordown vote. I ask that there be a clean vote on the dream act this month. As i mentioned 800,000 young people have been admitted to the daca program. Allowing them to come out of the shadows. They were educated here. They work here. They pay taxes. They are integrated into american society. These young people are fiercely patriotic. In every way that truly matters, they are americans. Listen to this. 94 of Daca Recipients are working or in school. S that 95 thats 95 of 800,000. The typical daca recipient came here at 6 years old. Many of them only speak english. 72 of the top fortune 500 happens, such as apple, amazon, j. P. Morgan employ daca recipient. Daca recipients contribute to our economy. Ending the program, it is estimated, would mean 463 billion hit. Protecting Daca Recipients isnt a matter of politics or economics. Its about whats right as americans as human beings. This is particularly important for me representing california because one in four dreamers, 223,000 live, work, and study in california. And i can testify that they are an essential part of the fabric of our communities. It is important for senators and the American Public to know a very the very real human side of this issue. I want to share the story of a remarkable young woman whom ive met and whose family i have met. Her name is amy sanchez. She was brought to this country when she was just 1. Today she lives in east oakland. I met her and her family last month. I spoke to her last on monday night. She is a 23yearold graduate student from u. C. Santa cruz with a degree in psychology. She is pursuing a career in Public Service so she can give back to this country. Her mother worked as an oncology nurse and her father worked as a truck driver. They have no criminal records. They own their own home, which i visited, a small home in east oakland. They pay their taxes and they were in this country for 23 years. I saw them a week before the mother and father were deported last month sobbing in their living room. My office has worked on their case for years and their deportation was truly heartbreaking. Ill never forget having to call maria and tell her i spoke to the acting secretary of Homeland Security begging her not to deport this family and sthee would be deported and that she would be deported and separated from her children the next day. It was one of the most painful calls ive ever had to make. These heartbreaking photos of the sanchez family were taken by the San Francisco chronicle before they were forced to leave. This is maria after spending 20 years as a nurse at a hospital there and this is the secondoldest child. This child is daca and it has fallen to her to support the two sisters, maintain the house, work, and hopefully start her career. Her mother, her father, and her american citizen youngest brother are in mexico. These heartbreaking photos i think tell a story. Viani is now facing the uncertainty that she too could lose protection and be deported, then what would happen to her sisters . Every day we fail to act means one more day that viani, maylynn, and elizabeth are forced to live with this enormous cloud hanging over their head. You know, senator, the fear is palpable. You talk to these young people on the telephone and you could sense whats happening. First of all, they know the government knows everything about them. The government knows where they live, what they do. They have to report regularly. This is kind of a conditional program and so they are up front and out front and you would think this would give them a sense of security but it actually gives them a sense of insecurity because they dont know what the future will bring. Id like to share the story of another talented and ambitious californian who has taken full advantage of the opportunity shes been given. This is denise rojas. She arrived in the United States when she was ten months old from mexico. Like many immigrant ancestors, her parents wanted to make a better life for their children. You can see she is very beautiful. Denises family is similar to other families in california. After arriving in fremont, her father worked full time in a restaurant while pursuing her High School Diploma at night. Her mother attended Community College part time for seven yearsor earn her nursing degree. After years of trying to gain legal status, her parents were forced to move to canada. That left denise. Denise excelled in high school, graduating with a 4. 3g. P. A. She attended u. C. Berkeley to study biollie and biology and sociology. She was given to work in a hospital driven by a Family Member who was diagnosed with cancer. Denise worked as a waitress, commuting an hour each way to classes because asia couldnt afford to because she couldnt afford to live on campus. She volunteered at San Francisco general hospital. Today she is in new york at mount sinai medical school, one of the countrys top programs. Shes on track to earn her degree in 2019. You can see her in the middle this photo in her medical scrubs and how proud she is. To help other students navigate the admission process, denise cofounded a National NonprofitOrganization Called prehealth dreamers. Through prehealth dreamers, denise helped many other students together as they worked toward their goals. After graduation, she intends to specialize in emergency medicine and work in lowincome communities to provide health care to families like her own that too often go without needed treatment. Parts of california, particularly our rural counties, are very short on doctors. This is a big problem in the Health Care Reform they are lucky if they have the choice of one insurance. So we desperately need people like denise who want to work in communities most in need of Skilled Health professionals. Now, without daca or passage of the dream act, denise wont be able to ever come home, she wont be able to stay. All of the education that has gotten her here through a topnotch university to a topnotch hospital, i assume as an intern or resident at this time, she wouldnt have the proper Work Authorization or Company Documents and our country would be denied a highly qualified, motivated doctor. In closing, mr. President , i really believe we have a moral obligation to do all we can to shield these young people from deportation. Remember, they did not break the law. They were brought here as children, and many as babies. Some dont know the language from the land from which they came. They all speak english, and very well. They want the American Dream and they are motivated and they are patriotic. I was just listening to somebody a young person the other day. All she wanted to do was be in the military. She is rotc and wants to be in the military. These are the people who make this country great and we cant forsake them. Thank you, mr. President. Yiel the floor. I yield the floor. Thank you. Ms. Hirono mr. President , it would have taken moral courage for President Trump to stand in front of the American People to say why he was going back on his word to deal with daca, end quote, and now i et quote, and now i quote, in a way that will make people happy and proud. End quote. Instead he sent out his attorney general Jeff Sessions long afoe of Immigration Reform to break the bad news to 800,000 young people and their families that he was rescinding today came. This was bloodless, heartless and completely unjustifiable. In his remarks the attorney general composed an elaborate fiction about today came, a program that daca, a program that has transformed the lives of 800,000 people. And the attorney general thought the American People would fall for his made up remarks. He never claimed he not only claimed daca was unconstitutional but falsely claimed that dreamsers were taking hundreds of thousands of jobs away from americans and that they deserve to be punished. The fact is, a strong jrts of majority of the American People are siding with the daca participants. The American People arent threatened by these inspiring young people. They arent criminals. They arent causing trouble. They were students, doctors, nurses, teachers, and entrepreneurs making real and meaningful contributions to our society. And they are simply asking for the opportunity to pursue their dreams. Hence, they are called dreamers in the only country they know, the United States of america. Its why so many people across the country are speaking out forcefully against the president s decision to end daca. While i was back home in hawaii last month i met with activists, Community Organizations and state leaders to rally support for daca and to call for establishing permanent protections for these dreamers across the country. Hawaii is home to 600 Daca Recipients and thousands more dreamers who could have qualified for the program but were reluctant to expose themselves to the government. Id like to share some of their compelling stories here today. Gabriella came to the United States with her family in 2001 fleeing violence in brazil. They came here out of love and hope for a better future. Every day gabriella and her family worried about being sent back to the violent situation they escaped. Gabriella graduated from high school with a 3. 8g. P. A. And had big plans to pursue Higher Education. But at that time she couldnt enroll in college because she was undocumented. Daca changed her life. She said quote i have been living here undocumented for ten years and had seen a lot of opportunities pass me by. I knew i couldnt continue to live this way. Daca changed my life for the better. Since getting daca in 2012, i have been able to get a drivers license, to have a career, to go to school, and leave my home every day knowing that i can come home to my family at the end of the day. End quote. Another story. Monica came to hawaii from tonga when i was a child. When he learn turned 21 he learned he might be deported. Before receiving daca the only job he could find was building rock walls with his uncan. He didnt have a core to get to work. He woke up at 4 00 a. M. Every single day to catch the bus to pearl city where he switched buses. After working in the hot sun all day, he would have to take a twohour bus ride home to get to bed at 10 00 p. M. Before starting his routine over again the next morning. I quote him. Since i got daca, he said, life has changed a lot. I applied for my first job and got t. I worked really got it. I worked really hard and made supervisor. They gave me a company car and a company phone. It was really, really nice just to know that with hard work and effort, you can get places. End quote. Eliminating daca would erase the meaningful economic and social contributions dreamers have made to hawaii and our country. Multiply their stories thousands of times and you get a sense of how many lives are being shattered by a president who wouldnt help the young people he claims to quote love even as he was ordering their probable deportation. According to a report from the cato institute, rescinding daca would cost the state of hawaii 577. 5 million in the coming decade from unrealized Economic Growth and lost taxes. Thats from 600 daca participants. There are a hundred thousand of them throughout the country. So just the Economic Loss alone would be tremendous. And of course the contributions that dreamers make to our country cannot and should not be reduced only to a dollar figure. Standing up for them and their American Dream is a moral imperative. Its why leaders from across hawaii are speaking out against about daca and protecting dreamers. In an email to students, faculty and staff yesterday, the president of the university of hawaii David Lassner reaffirmed the universitys commitment to serve all members of our community regardless of citizenship status. He continued saying, well over four years ago a u. H. Border regions adopted a policy to extend eligibility to resident rates to undocumented students including but not limited to those who filed for daca. I remain on record with hundreds of my fellow college and University President s in public support of daca. Over the next months, we will strengthen we will strengthen our urging of congress to extend the daca program and protect the dreamers of our state and our nation. It goes on. Our undocumented students are an integral part of our community and will continue to be extended all the rights, privileges, and Services Available to our students from application through graduation. Further, as our states only Public Higher Education system, we have a deep responsibility to provide high quality, affordable education to advance all our people, our communities, and our islands. That mission requires that we support and celebrate diversity, respect, and caring. We must overcome hate and intolerance, even as we support free speech and free expression. It is clear that u. H. Like universities around the country is entering unchartered territory. Our clear and firm adherence to our values in challenging times is more essential than ever. End quote. The president of the university of hawaii. Another very recent development, hawaiis attorney general doug chin joined 15 attorneys general from across the country in filing suit against the Trump Administration to prevent it from eliminating the daca program. They filed a lawsuit on equal protection grounds. I strongly support efforts in the courts to prevent the president from rescinding daca and putting 800 young lives at risk for deportation. Since the president has kicked the ball to congress to save daca, something he could and should have done himself, Congress Must step up and do just that. Congress must step up because we cannot count on the president to do the right thing by exearlying exerting consistent or comprehensive moral leadership. Although it was completely within the president s power to keep daca in place, congress can provide the certainty these dreamers deserve by passing the dream act, a bill that enjoys bipartisan support. I also want to send a clear message to the president and his hardline supporters in congress. I will join with my colleagues to resist any effort to hold dreamers hostage to pay for the president s vanity wall in exchange for sharp reductions in Legal Immigration or for any other dog whistles to his base president i will do everything i can to fight back against this administrations continued efforts to marginalized immigrant and minority communities or to pit immigrant communities against one another. As an immigrant and minority person myself, i certainly know what these communities are experiencing. This is precisely what president president continues to do in an effort to play to White Supremacists in his base. Sadly, this is not surprising. Its up to each of us to fight back and we will. I yield the floor. The presiding officer democratic leader. Mr. Schumer first, i want to thank my colleague from hawaii for her outstanding words. She comes from a state like mine that thrives on diversity, welcoming people from all corners of the globe and making us stronger. And shes been a symbol of that herself as well as all the millions of wonderful people she represents in hawaii. Now, i rise this afternoon alongside my colleagues from hawaii, my colleague from washington state, and others to make