November 12, 2019

After Supreme Court Oral Arguments, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and House and Senate Leaders Reject President Trump’s Attack On DACA Recipients

-As Delivered-

WASHINGTON — Today, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin held a press conference with plaintiffs in the DACA case before the Supreme Court to call on the Trump Administration to reverse their baseless termination of the DACA program and demand that the Republican controlled Senate to pass H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act.

Below are remarks as delivered by Congressman Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus:

“Good afternoon everybody, my name is Joaquin Castro and I represent a part of the great state of Texas – the wonderful city of San Antonio, and I am chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus this term. Earlier today, I had a chance to attend the oral arguments over the future and fate of DACA, and whether the Supreme Court will allow DACA to stand.

“All of us today stand in solidarity and in support of our Dreamers and our DACA recipients. They are as American as any single one of us, and despite the president’s attempts to slander them, to speak ill about who they are, and what they represent, these folks are among the very best that America has to offer. They are people who often time from a very young age, as children arrived to in this country, have only known the United States as their home, some who only speak the English language - all who have felt the fear of living in limbo for many years, who felt the joy in 2012 of being able to come out of the shadows when President Obama put DACA into effect and now again feel the fear of deportation looming.

“We are here today to speak the truth about who these people are, and I want to say thank you to the DACA recipients that are here today. It was amazing to be out on the Supreme Court steps and see people from every walk of life – not just the Dreamers and their family members, or the immigration advocates who have been doing such great work for many years, but also, out in strong force, members of the American business community, who came out to speak the truth about how valuable our Dreamers are to this country.

“Earlier this year the House of Representatives passed a DREAM Act, DREAM and TPS Act – H.R. 6. The fact is, all of us are anxious to see what the Supreme Court says, but in the House of Representatives, and under Speaker Pelosi, we are also not waiting for the Supreme Court. We have taken action, we have passed a bill that would put Dreamers on path to citizenship, where they belong – as Americans, with all of us. Unfortunately, right now it is buried in the desk of Mitch McConnell, and we are asking the Senate Majority Leader to take action – to do right by these folks and to do what is best for the country.”

A full recording of the press conference is available here.

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The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), founded in December 1976, is organized as a Congressional Member organization, governed under the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives. The CHC is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanics in the United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Territories.