Contact: Sam Singleton-Freeman, [email protected], 414-469-9206
MILWAUKEE – On Tuesday morning, Congress Members Lucille Royce-Allard (D-CA), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Yvette Clarke (D-NY) introduced the Dream and Promise Act to provide a pathway to citizenship for three groups of immigrants whose protections were stripped away by Donald Trump. The bill, which has 130 co-sponsors, would provide a pathway to citizenship to over two million people, including immigrant youth and refugees protected by the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforcement Departure (DED) programs. The Trump Administration has attempted to end these protections since 2017. By protecting refugee families in addition to immigrant young people, the Dream and Promise Act builds upon the Dream Act, which was previously passed by the House of Representatives in 2010.
The introduction of the bill comes as, in Wisconsin, Voces de la Frontera mobilizes for a statewide day of action at the Capitol in Madison on Thursday, March 14, to restore driver licenses for immigrant families. In the face of reports that the Trump Administration is now detaining a record number of immigrants — over 50,000 people throughout the country are in immigration detention at any given moment — efforts to pass legislation at all levels to prevent deportations take on ever greater urgency.
“Introducing the Dream and Promise Act is a vital step forward that presents a legislative solution that does not harm one group of people in exchange for protections for others,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera. “This bill will protect young people and families from the Trump Administration’s campaign of terror against immigrant and refugee communities. At the same time, our movement is fighting to pass state legislation to restore driver licenses to protect immigrant families from deportation, promote public safety, and improve the economy. Both the Dream and Promise Act and the Wisconsin state driver license legislation demonstrate the political power of our movement in the 2018 elections when the voters resoundingly rejected the Trump Administration’s bigoted, xenophobic agenda. Now we are in the next phase of the struggle, which is to win the policy victories the voters demanded.”
