Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) is calling on Congress to permanently protect Dreamers – young immigrants brought to the United States as children – as the Trump administration continues efforts to roll back the program that shields them from deportation.
Sen. Kelly joined fellow Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) at a press conference hosted by TheDream.US on the U.S. Capitol grounds, where lawmakers, educators, and families gathered to urge a lasting legislative fix for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
"I think most of us, and most Americans, agree that we can enforce our laws without chaos in the streets or tearing hardworking families apart," Kelly made clear.
He believes the current approach is misguided.
He pointed to thousands of DACA recipients with no criminal records who are currently being held by immigration enforcement, questioning why resources are being directed at them rather than serious criminals.
The press conference also highlighted the story of Annie Ramos, an Arizona Dreamer and wife of an Army staff sergeant who was detained and later released following public outcry in April. Her mother-in-law, Jen Rickling, spoke emotionally about watching Ramos be taken away in handcuffs, saying, "There has to be a better way than detention and deportation."
Continued Battle
However, the debate over Dreamers is not new. During Trump's first presidency, his administration moved to end DACA, the program originally created under President Obama.
President Donald Trump argued at the time that Obama had acknowledged he lacked the legal authority to create the program, and suggested that some DACA recipients were "hardened criminals," a claim critics strongly disputed.
In his second term, in the first nine months after taking office, immigration agents arrested 270 DACA recipients, and 174 were eventually deported, a sharp sign that the program's decade-long reputation as a reliable legal shield is no longer guaranteed.
The Dream Act
Senator Durbin pressed Congress to act, saying only lawmakers can give Dreamers the long-term stability they need. "The time to pass the Dream Act is now," he said.
Similar to Durbin, Kelly is urging Congress to pass the Dream Act, a proposal Democrats have pushed for over two decades without success. The latest version, introduced in the Republican-majority House last February, has stalled.
Still, Kelly says he believes it could move forward if both Congress and the White House get serious about finding a long-term solution.
Arizona Republicans have not yet responded to Kelly's remarks or the renewed push for Dreamer protections.
With court decisions and shifting policies continuing to create uncertainty, advocates say the only real solution is permanent legislation, something Congress has debated for years without resolution.
