(Submitted by La Conexion Immigrant Solidarity Committee)
What: The La Conexion Immigrant Solidarity Committee is calling for a day of action on Monday, November 20th to urge Rep. Bob Latta to support the passage of the Dream Act (S.B 1615 &H.R. 3440). Supporters will be meeting with Rep. Latta’s office as well as making phone calls to his Bowling Green office to deliver our message.
When: Monday, Nov. 20, at 11 a.m.
Who: The La Conexion Immigrant Solidarity Committee is joining with United We Dream (http://unitedwedream.org) who are calling on allies and partners around the country to make constituent visits to their members of Congress over the Thanksgiving session break. This visit will be a follow up from our previous two visits to the Representative’s office in which we delivered letters and signatures, collected at our “Lights on for Dreamers” rally, which expressed the need for a legislative solution for those impacted by the administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in September.
About: The Dream Act (SB 1615, HR 3440) was first introduced in Congress in 2001, but since that time has been re-introduced, revised, and updated to include bi-partisan provisions which ensure that this bill finds a real solution for Dreamers, but also satisfies security and stability concerns. It allows undocumented people who were brought to this country as children by their parents, to find a path to full legal status through gainful employment, higher education, or through military service. Here in Ohio, DACA recipients are filling much needed skilled trade positions in a variety of different fields from technology to construction, medicine, and more. Many are also preparing for their future careers at our local colleges and universities. The loss of these striving young people would be a great loss for our local economy & our community at large.
In a letter to Beatriz Maya, Director of La Conexion, Rep. Bob Latta expressed that he currently holds no definitive policy position on a solution for those who are impacted by the end of DACA. He indicated his decision was to withhold judgement until a task force, empaneled by Speaker Paul Ryan, gave its recommendations. To date, the task force has not given any public advisement regarding its findings, and has not issued public statements since late September.
This Day of Action intends to urge the Representative not to wait for the task force. While the DACA program official ends on March 5, 2018, government reports indicate that 22,000 individuals will have their status expire before that date. Expiration of status can mean these individuals may have to leave their jobs, lose their driver’s license, lose access to financial assistance for college, lose their protection from deportation, and more.
