WCBC

September 5th, 2017 by WCBC Radio

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s order that would rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In Maryland, estimates show there are almost 10,000 DACA recipients, and nearly 9,000 DACA workers, with an annual GDP boost to the state of more than a half-billion dollars annually. 

 

“America is a compassionate and diverse country that values hard work and community. The Trump Administration’s order to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program inexplicably upends these American values and will rip apart the lives of 800,000 individuals – DREAMers – who for the most part have known no other home but the USA. Clearly written with little thought of the human consequences, this latest action by the Trump Administration will harm our economic and national security. It will break families and drive many underground, out of work and into poverty. America has invested in DREAMers by educating them in our schools and integrating them into our communities. Let’s not squander these resources by deporting the next generation of teachers, doctors, engineers and small business owners who can contribute so much to our economy, communities and society. Families should not be ripped apart to abide by irrelevant political rhetoric. Just this past week in Maryland, I met with DREAMers and their family members to hear their incredibly powerful stories of courage and, most recently, fear of what actions this president and his administration may take next. These are real people and real families that will be hurt by the actions taken by the Trump Administration today.

 

“There are Democrats and Republicans who want to protect the DREAMers. Congress should immediately take up legislation to restore the DACA program and reject funding to implement President’s Trump mass deportation agenda and border wall.  In the longer term, Congress should once again take up and pass bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform to fix our broken immigration system, just as the Senate has done previously. Congress must act. We can no longer trust the executive branch to do what is right for our country when it comes to immigration.”

 

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