Quigley Urges President Obama to Protect DREAMers from President-Elect Trump’s Deportation Pledges

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), joined House Democratic colleagues at a press conference on their joint letter to President Obama asking him to carefully consider a presidential pardon as part of a strategy to protect DREAMers from President-Elect Trump’s deportation pledges. Rep. Quigley has previously hosted immigration action information sessions to help immigrants prepare for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) application periods. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery.

“I applauded President Obama when he created the DACA program in 2012. The program represented a crucial first step towards reforming a broken system and providing a reprieve to the people directly impacted by Congress’s failures.

“While the program has benefited approximately 750,000 young people, giving them the ability to come out of the shadows; it has also required them to put their trust in the government–submitting detailed personal information about themselves and their families, including fingerprints, addresses, employment records, and more.

“We do not yet know what changes the DACA program faces with the new administration.

“However, the inflammatory rhetoric we’ve seen from President-elect Trump suggests that he could exploit the information DREAMers have provided to the government, in order to deport these hard-working young people and their families.

“By protecting DREAMers with a pardon from civil immigration violations, we can send a clear message to young undocumented immigrants living in fear that President Obama and many members of Congress continue to stand with them during these uncertain times.

“America is stronger when we give young immigrants, who have known no other home than the United States, a chance to succeed in the country they love.”