—USCCB action alert addressing 119th (current) Congress, March 2025

Urge senators to build permanent path for Dreamers

“Dreamers” are those immigrants who came to the United States as children, often with other family members. They have grown up in U.S. communities, attended U.S. schools, and developed primary networks in the U.S. In many cases, they were so young that they have no memories of the nation where they were born. Some of these Dreamers have lived with legal status through their parents but lose that status upon turning 21 (“Documented Dreamers”). In both cases, Dreamers have no legal path to permanent residence or citizenship.  After repeated and failed attempts to pass a “Dream Act” in Congress, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was established by the Obama administration in 2012to provide temporary protection and work authorization, although it can be terminated arbitrarily through administrative action.

Recent reports confirm that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been arresting and deporting DACA recipients, as well as those with applications pending.

The Dream Act of 2025 is a bipartisan bill in the Senate that would allow Dreamers to apply for conditional status, eventually apply for a green card for permanent residence, and later seek full naturalized citizenship after meeting certain requirements. Please use the draft email in the grey box at right (below on mobile devices) to urge your senators to cosponsor the bill, publicly support a legal pathway for Dreamers, and talk with colleagues and leadership to advance the bill.

Background

From our coalition partners at United We Dream and the Home is Here Coalition:

On Tuesday, March 17, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, alongside the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and others held a joint press conference condemning the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for wrongfully targeting and removing recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

DHS has confirmed that 174 DACA applicants have been deported from the country since the start of the administration’s second term. DHS also has arrested at least 261 current DACA recipients and deported 86 of them, raising serious concerns about enforcement actions against individuals who were granted protection under the program.

DACA recipients undergo rigorous background checks every two years and deserve due process under the law. Arrests and removals of Dreamers tear families apart and destabilize communities, reinforcing the urgent need for Congress to deliver permanent protections.