Dream and Promise Act will provide much-needed certainty to aspiring Americans

WASHINGTON - The U.S. House Judiciary Committee today passed the Dream and Promise Act of 2019 (H.R. 6), legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for nearly 2.7 million, including aspiring young Americans, students and an estimated 37,000 educators currently working in our nation’s public schools, according to a recent analysis by the Migration Policy Institute.

Donald Trump ended the DACA program in September 2017 and revoked TPS, which is when the U.S. designates a foreign country unsafe due to armed conflict, natural disaster, epidemic or other extraordinary conditions, from hundreds of thousands of immigrants from seven countries. The U.S. House of Representatives introduced H.R. 6 in March and is co-sponsored by 233 House Democrats.

NEA President Lily Eskelsen García issued the following statement:

“At the heart of the Dream and Promise Act of 2019 is the core American principle of welcoming immigrants and their many talents and contributions – including 37,000 aspiring Americans who are working as educators in our classrooms. What is at stake are their dreams and aspirations. These educators are our neighbors, our friends, our students, and, yes, our peers. They are Americans in every way except on paper, and the passage of this bill today gets them a step closer towards their dreams.

“When educators lose their protected status, they also lose their work permits, and therefore the ability to do what they love most – to grow tomorrow’s thinkers, inventors, artists, and, yes, educators. Without a permanent solution that provides a pathway to citizenship, not only will teachers and students be removed from classrooms, our educators’ lose their ability to support their families, pay their mortgages, even lose their employer-provided health insurance, and, most alarmingly, they are exposed to deportation.

“We applaud the House Judiciary Committee for turning the page on Congressional inaction for our DACAmented educators, students, and TPS holders. We urge Congress to immediately pass the Dream and Promise Act of 2019 because it represents the values that we hold dear as a nation.”