“Today we celebrate the passage of the American Dream and Promise Act and the movement that made this moment possible. If it becomes law, this legislation would provide a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who came to the United States as youth and for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) beneficiaries. The passage of this bill is the result of organizing efforts led by immigrant youth, who have built and exercised their power over decades.  Immigrant youth won temporary reprieve through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, fought over the past four years to preserve it, and are determined to win permanent protections for themselves, their families and their communities.

We won’t stop now. We look forward to working with the White House and our champions in the Senate to use every opportunity to ensure that this bill becomes law, continue fighting for a pathway for the 11 million undocumented immigrants, and advance policies that center the dignity of all immigrants.  In doing so, we must be grounded in a vision of racial justice that rejects any further importation and entrenchment of the harms of the criminal legal system into our immigration system.”

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The Center for Popular Democracy is a national network of more than 50 community organizations dedicated to achieving racial and economic justice through local grassroots organizing. CPD trains and supports leadership, staff, and members to grow base-building organizations to scale and leverage that strength to win cutting-edge policy victories at the federal, state and local level.
www.populardemocracy.org