DACA bill gets a mixed reaction

Measure would give ‘dreamers’ citizenship path

New legislation that would offer a path to citizenship for young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children was greeted in Arizona with a mix of hope and skepticism.

Last week, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced the 2017 Dream Act, which borrows the nickname of the young undocumented “dreamer” immigrants it aims to help.

The measure echoes legislation first introduced in 2001 and nearly passed in 2010.

It also comes as attorneys general in 10 states have asked the Trump administration to end a President Barack Obamaera program, Deferred Action for Child Arrivals, that shielded nearly 800,000 dreamers from deportation.

Jessica Rubio, Phoenix coordinator of Mi Familia Vota, said she hopes history does not repeat itself with another Dream Act going down in defeat. Rubio and her brother would have benefited from the failed 2010 legislation; her brother was deported a year later.

“The introduction of this bill means hope, to me, for us to get a path to citizenship,” she said. “However, we know this hasn’t passed in the past. We’ve been waiting, and many families, while waiting, have been separated.”

She said many in the immigrant community are trying to figure out what the bill will mean for them. Meanwhile, her group will continue to

pressure Congress to ensure DACA remains in place until new legislation is passed, she said.

The newly proposed Dream Act states that young people could earn lawful permanent residence if they are longtime residents who came to the U.S. as children; graduated from high school, or obtained a GED; and either pursued higher education, worked lawfully for at least three years or served in the military.

Other requirements include passing security and law-enforcement background checks, paying a reasonable fee, demonstrating proficiency in English and in knowledge of U.S. history, and having a record free of felonies and other serious crimes.

Belén Sisa, advocacy director of Undocumented Students for Education Equity at Arizona State University, said she’ll read the bill before taking a position.

“We are skeptical to say we support it until we see official language,” Sisa said. “We will not support a bill that supports enforcement and may throw our families under the bus.”

Sisa added that the first battle is to protect DACA.

Durbin said at a news conference Thursday that he is emboldened by dreamers’ willingness to be public about their legal status so all Americans can understand who will be affected by this law.

“We need the Dream Act more than ever, because of the uncertainty that these young people face all across America — not just with the Dream Act in general, but the DACA program itself,” he said.

At the same news conference, Graham said DACA recipients have come out of the shadows by identifying themselves.

“There is well over a million people who are brought here as young people — some as babies, some as grade-schoolers — by their parents, illegally,” Graham said. “And if you told them to go back home, they would go to where they were raised. They are no more connected with a foreign country than I am.”

Reyna Montoya, a DACA recipient and founder of Phoenix-based immigrant-advocacy group Aliento, said the legislation comes at the right moment because of threats to end the DACA program.

“We know that is a good step in the right direction, but we don’t know what it’s going to entail (or) who is going to benefit,” she said.

Montoya said she was encouraged to learn U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is co-sponsoring the bill.

“We are hoping that Republicans and Democrats do the right thing,” she said.

“If they say that they care about dreamers and young people like me who have been here since (they were) children, we ask them to pass this legislation.”