Young immigrants need protection

Five years ago, we applied for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which gave us temporary legal status to work, go to school, and get driver’s licenses and Social Security cards. To be admitted, we passed background and criminal record checks, proved we were in school, the military, or working, and paid a $495 fee.

Until DACA, we were Americans in all but documentation. Both of us were brought to this country by our parents before we finished elementary school.

As Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton laid out in his recent column in USA TODAY, attorneys general from 10 states sent a letter to President Trump threatening to sue if he doesn’t end DACA. If that happens, we could be deported. In response, 20 Democratic attorneys general wrote the Trump administration asking them to keep DACA in place. Trump has called DACA recipients “absolutely incredible kids.” What’s more 75% of voters, including 78% of Republican voters, support DACA.

DACA, however, only provides temporary status and can easily be ended, putting more than 700,000 people in legal limbo. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Richard Durbin D-Ill., introduced the DREAM Act, which would grant permanent legal status to longtime residents like us who came here as children, speak English, have no criminal record, and are employed or in school. We strongly encourage Congress to pass this bill. Juan Carlos Cerda, Jaime Rangel FWD.us Dallas, Atlanta