For Immediate Release
January 18, 2018
Let your Voice be Heard
in Unison
The Champaign-Urbana Immigration Forum (the IF) calls concerned
citizens in Champaign Country and across Illinois to join their elected
representatives and magnify their voice by supporting the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) young people. Let your voices be heard in unison by
calling the leader of the Senate.
Who is agreeing? All federal representatives for our county, Senator
Durbin, Senator Duckworth, and Representative Davis agree that the young people
affected should be helped ASAP.
Who is affected? The Trump administration decision to rescind
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on March 6, 2018 sets
into motion the deportation of hundreds of thousands of young adults or
Dreamers who were brought to this country as children and know of no other
country than the United States to call their home. Illinois has an estimated
42,000 DACA recipients.
Here in Champaign County,
there is no official count of how many DACA recipients will be affected but
there is no disagreement that hundreds of young adults will lose everything
they have worked so hard for in their lives. DACA recipients are students in
our high schools, at Parkland College, and the University of Illinois. Many
contribute to our local economy in their professional careers having earned a
college degree. Almost without exception, the Dreamers make our communities a
better place to live.
According to almost all national polls, citizens of the U.S. are
not in favor in expelling the Dreamers from our country. Last September, when
President Trump rescinded the Executive Order created by President Obama in
2009, he stated it was up to Congress to pass legislation to support the
Dreamers. The congressional leadership in Washington has not found a way to
avoid gridlock and pass a law to support the Dreamers. Some progress was made; Senators Graham and Durbin
are the leaders of a bipartisan
‘Gang of Six” who have presented President Trump an immigration compromise to
provide a path to citizenship for DACA recipients as well as $1.6 billion for
border security.
Why now? Congress must agree every so often to fund government
operations in a Continuing Resolution (CR). After passing a CR to avoid a
government shutdown in December, a budget must be passed by noon this Friday. Senator
McConnell and Representative Ryan, Republican leaders of the Senate and the House
support “kicking the can down the road” by suggesting that a CR be passed in
the next few days without including a solution that provides a pathway to
citizenship for the Dreamers. Democrats are saying no. They will not support a
Continuing Resolution to avoid a government shutdown without legislation for
the Dreamers. More importantly, Senator Lindsey Graham and other Republican
senators told reporters today that they plans to vote against the GOP
leadership’s short-term funding bill to avoid a government shutdown.
We cannot place the
lives of our young Dreamers hostage any longer. We also cannot shut down our government when so many lives will be at stake
with loss of funding for other vulnerable populations.
Call the office of Senator McConnell and demand
that he allows the Graham-Durbin proposal to come to the floor of the Senate
for a vote.
Please call
the office of Representative Rodney Davis and ask him to support legislation
for the Dreamers.
This is the time and now is the moment to make good on our promise
to more than 800,000 young Americans who are the Dreamers that they are welcome
in our country.
How to do it?
To get connected,
Click here http://bit.ly/2BJRmNh
You can reach US representatives by calling 202-225-3121, and US
senators by calling 202-224-3121
Or you can get specific numbers at https://www.callmycongress.com/
The Champaign-Urbana Immigration Forum (CUIF), founded in 2009,
is a community organization concerned about the progress and plight of
immigrants focusing on these families in Champaign County.
