WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Asian American and Pacific Islander community leaders held a press conference outside of the White House to defend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that President Trump has threatened to eliminate. Since its creation in 2012, the DACA program has granted nearly 800,000 young people with the ability to pursue jobs and achieve higher education without fear of deportation. As Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Rep. Chu released the following statement to support DACA:
“As Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I want to thank the coalition of DREAMers, faith leaders, and community leaders who have been standing outside of the White House – day and night, night and day – to defend DACA. I am here to support you and to join you in telling President Trump that our DREAMers are here to stay!
“Over the past five years, the DACA program has enabled nearly 800,000 young people who were brought to the United States as children to come out of the shadows. This includes many Asians and Pacific Islanders who have been able to go to school, attain work permits, and pursue their dreams. All of our DACA recipients have passed rigorous background checks to participate in the program. And they are American in every sense of the word except on paper.
“Unfortunately, President Trump has threatened to end the DACA program as we know it. But we will fight back. I want our DREAMers to know that there are members of Congress who support you and who will continue to fight to protect DACA and to fix our broken immigration system.
“We will not allow our immigrant communities to be trampled upon. I want our DACA recipients and our TPS recipients to know that we support you. Together, we will fight to protect our immigrant communities and ensure that America continues to remain the land of opportunity for all!”