In solidarity,
Dan O’Neal for the PDA National Team

Let’s Support Dreamers: Here’s How

This email is long, but hear me out.

With little over a month to go, immigration activist organizations and progressives both inside and outside of Congress are in a full-court sprint aimed to fix DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the decade-old program that protects hundreds of thousands of young immigrants known as “Dreamers.”

The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed the wildly popular DREAM Act, legislation allowing more than 600,000 young people brought to the U.S. as children to meet conditions that will protect them from deportation and lead to a path to citizenship.

The problem is the Senate and its crazy Senate filibuster rule that requires 60 votes to get most laws passed. All the Senate Democrats are on board, according to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. During this lame-duck session, we need to put enough pressure on at least 10 Senate Republicans to pass the DREAM Act in the upper chamber.

Now, can we find 10 moderate Republicans?  

PDA activists, it may be a long shot, and most Republicans could care less about the Dreamers, but our weapon is our ability to make noise. Here is a list of 12 Republicans who voted yesterday to pass the Respect for Marriage Act. Let’s give them lots of calls from all across the country, thanking them for protecting LGBTQ+ rights and urging them to protect Dreamers by supporting the DREAM Act in this lame duck session:

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) (202) 224-5721

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) (202) 224-3154

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) (202) 224-6472

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) (202) 224-2523

Sen. Jody Ernst (R-IA) (202) 224-3254

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) (202) 224-3424

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) (202) 224-6665

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) (202) 224-3353

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) (202) 224-5251

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) (202) 224-3004

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) (202) 224-6342

Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) (202) 224-5623

Let us know if you make these calls.

We are seriously running out of time. Last month the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that DACA was illegal, but allowed it to stand while a lower court reviews a new Biden administration rule. The conservative courts, including the Supreme Court, are expected to end the 2012 Obama-era program.

And, on Jan. 3^rd the House will be in the “able” Republican hands of Kevin McCarthy, who caves to his MAGA colleagues at every opportunity. That means DACA and the Dream Act will be DOA.

So, let’s make the calls now!!!! Over 600,000 Dreamers are counting on us.