There are an estimated 750,000 DREAMers who would be adversely affected if President Obama’s executive action, which has afforded them protected status, were to be annulled by the Trump Administration. Without this protected status, these DREAMers would not be able to legally work in the United States.
In an effort to prevent the revocation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a Republican senator and a Democratic senator have joined forces to try to protect DREAMers and shield them from deportation. Senator Richard Durbin from Illinois, a long-time supporter of the DACA program, went to the Senate floor Thursday morning to announce his plan to work with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to present a bill that would grant DREAMers protected status for a set amount of time until a more comprehensive immigration reform bill could be fashioned in Congress. Reportedly, other moderate Republicans like Jeff Flake of Arizona, an original member of the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” who worked on the 2013 immigration bill, likewise acknowledged that he wanted to see protections for DREAMers.
There is no indication yet whether Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would agree to considering the bill. The Immigration blog of the Shulman Law Group provides up-to-date information regarding DACA and the bill being set forth to protect DREAMers.
At the Shulman Law Group, a firm devoted exclusively to the practice of Immigration Law, we understand the import of supporting legislation that impacts our immigration clients and empathize with the anticipatory anxiety pending Trump’s ascent to Presidential power and how it will impact DREAMers. We commend the work of Senators Durbin and Graham which suggests the possibility of more bipartisan dialogues and that eventually Congress may find common ground in order to compromise on critical immigration reform issues.