Dear John,

On July 16 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew S. Hanen in Texas issued an opinion finding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) illegal and barring the federal government from granting new applications. For the time being, current DACA recipients retain their protections, but their future is more uncertain than ever. The ruling once again puts the fate of Dreamers in limbo. The U.S. Senate holds the key to their future.

Tell Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota Senator Tina Smith to take action to create a permanent solution for Dreamers now.

Dreamers are undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children. The United States is often the only home they have known. Dreamers serve in our military and contribute as teachers, health care providers, neighbors, and more. Together with their families, they make our nation a better place. More than 650,000 Dreamers have DACA already, including more than 5,300 Minnesotans. Tens of thousands of Dreamers have applications for DACA pending.

ILCM will be holding a Facebook Live event regarding this decision on Wednesday, July 21, at 5:00 p.m. CST. Please join us and share widely! This event will be in English and Spanish. Este evento será en inglés y español.

Over the next 10 years, Dreamers who currently have DACA will contribute an estimated $433.4 billion to the GDP, $60 billion in fiscal impact, and $12.3 billion in taxes to Social Security and Medicare if they can continue to work legally in the U.S. Dreamers have also been indispensable to our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic: nearly 30,000 DACA recipients work in health care across the U.S, and nearly half of all Dreamers — around 1 million — work in essential industries.

Tell Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota Senator Tina Smith that Dreamers are essential members of our communities and they deserve a permanent solution.

Minnesota Senator Tina Smith has spoken out strongly in support of including a path to citizenship for Dreamers and essential workers in the budget reconciliation bill. In March, Democrats and a handful of Republicans in the House of Representatives passed the Dream and Promise Act, which would provide a pathway to earned citizenship for Dreamers as well as people with Temporary Protected Status.

Judge Hanen’s ruling shines a light on the fact that DACA has always been only a temporary solution. It is past time for Congress to act and provide certainty to Dreamers. Doing so will benefit not only Dreamers, but also those who depend on them: our communities, our churches, our businesses and our nation as a whole. We cannot keep leaving Dreamers in limbo, undermining their future in the only country many of them have called home.

Tell Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota Senator Tina Smith to work hard for a path to citizenship for Dreamers!

In solidarity,