On Sept. 5, the Trump administration chose to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that shielded 800,000 young immigrants from deportation and enabled them to apply for work permits and social security numbers after a series of strict background and security checks, according to a Sept. 5 New York Times article. While the decision was unnecessary and heartless, it formed a sense of urgency that mobilized action in Congress toward a bipartisan solution to protect Dreamers. The solution, according to both sides of the conversation, consisted of sensible border security — in the form of drones and advanced technology — in partnership with the DREAM Act, according to a Sept. 14 New York Times article. The president said he would still pursue the wall but would not make it a demand when signing legislation aimed at protecting Dreamers. A Sept. 28 Fox News poll showed that 86 percent of voters support legislation to give Dreamers work permits, and even more incredibly, 62 percent of voters view this issue as an extremely important matter for Congress to focus on. The support in Congress was further reflecting this support, with now 200 House members co-sponsoring the DREAM/RAC Act in the House, according to the U.S. Congress. In the Senate, a bipartisan push has resulted in several pieces of legislation to support Dreamers, with wide support from Senators from both sides. 

On Oct. 5, the DACA program officially stopped accepting renewals. Thus, DACA recipients once again began to fear deportation. However, the legislative momentum translated to over 100 Dreamers from across 25 states traveling to the District of Columbia to speak with their members of Congress on the emotional and fiscal impact of not passing legislation to protect Dreamers. I had the privilege of attending and lobbying GOP members from my home state of Florida to support Dreamers. In all of our meetings, we saw a genuine bipartisan interest to protect Dreamers and continue our contributions to our communities. This energy was felt in the joint press conferences with a bipartisan group of Senators and Speaker Paul Ryan’s willingness to create a working committee to solve this urgent issue. 

However, this momentum was stopped when the Trump administration, largely influenced by President Donald trump’s senior advisor for policy, Stephen Miller, chose to undermine the president’s previous commitment to protect Dreamers and solve this situation “with heart,” as stated earlier this year, according to a Feb. 16 Politico article. According to an Oct. 8 New York Times article, the White House demanded that to pass any legislation to protect Dreamers, there must be legislation that funds a wall, decreases and completely overhauls the legal immigration system, increases immigration judges and interior enforcement, and seeks to establish a national E Verify program to prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving jobs. These demands are unrealistic, with many members of the president’s own party disagreeing with his attempts to reduce legal immigration. Now this administration is seeking more out of bipartisan Dreamer legislation than the entirety of a whole immigration reform package. 

More importantly, this is a plan by Miller to prevent and sabotage any possible deal to protect Dreamers, even with most Americans disagreeing with this opinion. Congress should pursue a clean DREAM Act, treating independent issues as such and not engaging in the political football of over 800,000 lives that are in imminent threat. Congress should rebuke these demands and pass the bipartisan DREAM Act by allowing a floor vote in the House. There is no rational reasoning to prevent the passing of the most bipartisan legislation in Congress, specifically in a period known for deep gridlock and partisanship. Americans deserve a Congress that works to protect and represent their voices; deporting Dreamers is the exact opposite. Rhetoric is cheap, and now is the time to translate this support into action by mobilizing, advocating and demanding legislation to protect Dreamers. This harsh rhetoric was further exceeded when Attorney General Jeff Sessions touted the Miller-favored hardline immigration policies that a minority of the nation supports, according to an Oct. 20 article in the Huffington Post. It is important to remember that Sessions, not the president, announced the removal of the DACA program. In fact, a wide majority of the administration officials and surrogates including Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Chief of Staff John Kelly, Dina Powell and many others were in support of extending DACA, according to an Oct. 9 Time article. This attempt to hijack the president’s intentions must be shown through the wide support of Dreamers by Trump’s own voting group. 

Nearly no other issue is as urgent in the current political climate we find ourselves in. Thousands of doctors, students, teachers, nurses and soldiers are going to sleep every night without knowing their future in a couple of months. We must finally actualize what all of us 800,000 Dreamers already know: We are American in every aspect of our life but on paper.