WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today came to the Senate floor today to call on Republican leaders in Congress to pass the bipartisan agreement on immigration that was reached by himself and Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Robert Menendez (D-NJ). 
It has been more than four months since the Trump Administration terminated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and called for Congress to come up with a legislative solution. Beginning on March 5, 2018, 1,000 young people will lose their DACA protection each day, and the Trump Administration itself has acknowledged that it will take six months to implement legislation.
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“So here we are over four months later, and the question has to be asked of the Republican leaders in the House and Senate: what have you done to answer the president’s challenge? And the answer, quite honestly, is precious little if anything,” said Durbin. “The good news is that six United States Senators, three of us on the Democratic side, three on the Republican side, have been doing what no other committee has done, no other Senators have done. We’ve put together a bipartisan compromise that moves us forward on this DACA issue. Now we challenge others on this same issue – come forward with your proposal, come forward with your idea. And if you don’t, at least give us a chance to present this bipartisan measure which we have worked on long and hard to solve this critical issue.”
In July, Durbin and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced the bipartisan Dream Act, which would allow immigrant students who grew up in the United States to earn lawful permanent residence and eventually American citizenship. These young people, known as Dreamers, have lived in America since they were children, built their lives here, and are American in every way except for their immigration status.
Dreamer stories that Durbin has shared on the Senate floor are available here.
