Washington State Organizations Deliver Resolution in Support of Dreamers

Dear Editor,
Members of several indivisible organizations presented a resolution on behalf of 47 indivisible and immigrant rights organizations, representing thousands of activists from across Washington state, to the offices of Representative Jayapal, Senator Cantwell, and Senator Murray. The effort, believed by its coordinator to be the first of its kind undertaken by anti-Trump organizations in Washington state, included organizations from Wallapa Bay in the west, to Spokane and Palouse in the interior, and coincides with a national campaign by immigrant rights organizations to save DACA from termination by the Trump administration.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order has provided over 750,000 young people (“Dreamers”) relief from deportation since 2012, as well as the ability to drive and work in the United States.
The status was created for young people brought to the United States as children, who have lived in the country since 2007, graduated from high school, and been law-abiding residents.
Ten states have threatened to sue the federal government if the DACA program is not ended by September, and it is widely expected that Attorney General Jeff Sessions will decline to defend the program in court. This would end the program and put DACA recipients and their families at risk of deportation. In order to gain DACA status, Dreamers had to give the federal government their addresses, school records, fingerprints, and even DNA samples. Indivisible organizations are particularly concerned this information, which was given in good faith by DACA recipients, could now be used as a means to detain and deport Dreamers and their families.
DACA remains a popular program. A recent poll found 86% of Democrats want Dreamers to be able to stay in the country, 65% with a path to citizenship, while 72% of Republicans want Dreamers to be able to stay in the country, 48% with a path to citizenship for DACA recipients (Morning Consult Poll, April 24, 2017). Given President’s Trump’s promises not to hard Dreamers,
Indivisible organizations believe Congress can and should immediately work to pass legislation that would allow Dreamers to stay in the country, with some path to eventual citizenship.
Alx Dark, who coordinated the resolution, chose this form of petition specifically to drive education of Indivisible members on this and other immigration issues, “which are new to many members in Indivisible organizations. In response to Trump’s attacks on immigrants, refugees, and Muslims, many concerned members have looked closely at the United States immigration system, and the more they learn, the more committed they become to fixing a profoundly broken system.”
Holly Brewer
Bainbridge Island