Washington, DC – The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) supports the Dream and Promise Act of 2019, introduced in the House today. The bill combines previous versions of both the Dream Act and the American Promise Act, which were designed to protect individuals living in the United States for extended periods of time and facing potential deportation.
Contact: Tim McHugh, Friends Committee on National Legislation, media@fcnl.org; 202-903-2515
“The wholesale termination of the Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) programs left over a million established members of our society in a cruel state of never-ending limbo. Congress must immediately pass the Dream and Promise Act of 2019,” said FCNL Executive Secretary Diane Randall. “As Quakers, we see and answer to the Light of God in every person. Our pursuit of just immigration policies starts with this longstanding faith principle.”
The Dream and Promise Act provides a pathway to citizenship for eligible Dreamers who entered the U.S. as children, offering them a chance to earn citizenship through education, employment, or military service. In addition, the bill secures an opportunity for citizenship for people with TPS and DED status.
“While some are busy building walls and ever-more detention centers to lock-up those fleeing persecution along with their children, others have begun the hard work of crafting a sensible, humane solution for the millions unjustly locked out of our archaic system. We have long supported legislation that gives the best, most workable pathway to citizenship for as many Dreamers and under-documented community members as possible. This legislation will do that,” said Hannah Graf Evans, FCNL’s immigration and refugee policy legislative representative.
President George Bush granted DED status to Liberians in 2007. It will lapse on March 31. People who currently have TPS status come from ten countries, including El Salvador, Haiti, Nepal, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.
“The people this new bill directly impacts are every bit a part of the fabric of our society that American citizens are. They are worthy of nothing less than an accessible pathway to citizenship, to remain with their families, and continue contributing to our communities,” said Evans.
To learn more, please visit www.fcnl.org.
