Rep. Gabbard Urges Congress to Pass Bipartisan DREAM Act

Hawaiʻi Rep. Tulsi Gabbard asked Congress to pass the bipartisan and bicameral DREAM Act (HR 3440) to enact a permanent solution for millions of DREAMers across the country. The congresswoman was joined by fellow members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), immigrant advocacy organizations and DREAMers from across the country.

Courtesy photo

The DREAM Act, would grant lawful permanent residence to over 800,000 DREAMers across the country.

A companion bill, SB 1615 was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said:

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD

“Congress must take action. More than 600 DACA recipients in Hawaiʻi, along with over 800,000 across the country, have their lives hanging in the balance. In my home state of Hawai‘i on the island of Maui, I recently met with a group of DREAMers who shared their stories of hardship, of hope, and now of fear and uncertainty of what lies ahead. These young men and women have known no other home other than the island of Maui or the state of Hawai‘i and now face the possibility of being sent to live in a foreign country or falling back into the shadows.

“DACA was a shining light for DREAMers, which allowed them to come out from the shadows to go to school, to get a job, to start a small business, and to build a future in this country. Congress has the responsibility to pass a clean, bipartisan DREAM Act to provide a permanent resolution to this problem that too many people are facing all across this country. We cannot afford to wait. We must stand together, Republicans and Democrats, as Americans to pass the DREAM Act now.”

Immigration reform has been one of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s top priorities throughout her time in Congress. In addition to the DREAM Act, she has also co-sponsored two measures to protect families and children, including the DREAMer Information Protection Act (HR 532) which prohibits DHS’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) from being used for immigration enforcement proceedings and the BRIDGE Act (HR 496) which codifies the DACA program. In October, she hosted an immigration-focused telephone town hall to update Hawai‘i constituents on the status of DACA, and answer questions about education rights for DREAMers, fees for naturalization, qualifications to receive DACA, backlogs on citizenship applications, rules regarding re-entry for foreign-born relatives of U.S. military personnel, and more.

A full recording of the event is available here.