For Immediate Release
September 5, 2017
Contact: Michael Heenan
202-585-4371
AFT’s Weingarten
Responds to DACA Repeal
WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers
President Randi Weingarten released the following statement on President
Trump’s decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program
that protects more than 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants brought to the
United States as children:
“The young people covered by DACA are
woven into our communities—learning in, working in, defending and contributing
to the country that is their home. Offering protection to DACAmented immigrants
was done based on the understanding that America is stronger when we value
people and create opportunity to achieve the American dream, regardless of
demography or geography.
“President Trump made a promise that
he would treat Dreamers with ‘great heart.’ Now, for seemingly political
reasons, he is breaking his promise to students, teachers, doctors, nurses and
lawyers who took him at his word. This is not the America I know—an America
that says one thing to its citizens and then does another. Betraying DACA
Dreamers is betraying the values of our diverse and welcoming nation. America
will not be stronger or more secure when these young people are torn away from
the country they love and call their own. America will be diminished—and the
toll will be measured by families ripped apart, people cast into the shadows
and into poverty, businesses upended, economies weakened and dreams shattered.
“As children return to school, many
carry with them constant, crippling terror and uncertainty because of their
immigration status. Children should be free to learn and live without fear.
Inhumane immigration policies deprive them of that freedom.
“President Trump has an opportunity to
lead on this issue. The time has come for the president and Congress to offer
comprehensive solutions to our broken immigration system. We must defend DACA
now, but we know the enduring work is to provide pathways to citizenship for
millions of students, families and neighbors working and living alongside us,
which includes passing the bipartisan Dream Act of 2017.
“The AFT will continue to fight to
protect undocumented students, refugees, individuals with temporary protective
status, and their families from the threat of deportation. A nation built by
immigrants should welcome those in pursuit of the American dream, not pull up
the ladder behind us.”
Follow
AFT President Randi Weingarten: http//twitter.com/rweingarten
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