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Rep. Chu Statement on House Passage of Dream and Promise Act

June 4, 2019

Washington, DC — The House of Representatives today voted 237-187 to pass H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act of 2019. This bill, introduced by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40), provides a pathway to citizenship for over 2.5 million US residents, including Dreamers – those eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) - and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients. Dreamers can apply for legal permanent residency if they came to the United States before the age of 18 and have been in the country for at least 4 years and have met certain education or work requirements. Individuals who were eligible for TPS and DED on January 1, 2017 and who have been in the United States for at least 3 years are also eligible to apply for legal permanent status. Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) voted to pass the bill and issued the following statement:

"This is an historic day that was 18 years in the making! Finally, Dreamers and other immigrants who have lived and worked here and are American in every way possible are one step closer to being protected from xenophobic threats to separate families and send them to a country many of them have never even known. As the Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, or CAPAC, I know that this bill is particularly important to the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community who, while only making up 6 percent of the entire U.S. population, are 16 percent of the undocumented in this country. That means there are over 130,000 Asian American Dreamers living in uncertainty with the threat of deportation always looming.

"This bill is a massive relief to all of them and the millions of others like them who have made America their home and do not deserve to live in fear of being punished for a choice many of them never made. This victory is theirs. It would have been impossible to get here without the passion and commitment of Dreamers who marched, organized, rallied, and even held hunger strikes on the National Mall to make sure we never forgot our promise to them. Now it is time for the Senate to act on this bill as well so that we can get it to the President's desk and signed into law."

Issues:Immigration