CHICAGO, March 12 2019 — Today, House leaders in the Democratic Party, Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07) and Yvette Clarke (NY-09), presented the HR6, the “Dream and Promise Act”, which lays out permanent solutions for people currently living in the US with temporary protections under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Oscar Chacón, Executive Director of Alianza Americas, had the following statement:

“The Dream and Promise Act offers a ray of hope for the more than a million people currently residing in the US with temporary migration protections.  These individuals have lived in our communities for many years and made innumerable contributions to the social fabric of the nation. These populations have suffered greatly over the past two years from constant racist and xenophobic attacks.

We welcome this bill that brings together TPS, DACA, and DED populations and proposes sensible and just solutions. We are also aware of the challenges of moving such legislation into law in the short term.  Therefore, we urge legislators from both parties and both chambers to maintain current protections for all those who are currently protected by TPS, DED and DACA so as to avoid the risk of deportation. Although the courts have suspended some of the program cancellations, this is a temporary remedy.  Congress should do its part by maintaining current protections, especially for DED beneficiaries whose protection terminates at the end of March.

Alianza Americas also calls on Congress to evaluate US foreign policy with respect to Central American countries, to better address the structural problems that continue to generate inequality, poverty, and violence in the region.  The long term solution is to transform conditions in these countries so that more people have the opportunity to live secure and dignified lives in their countries of origin.”

Alianza Americas is a network of 50 immigrant-led organizations representing more than 100,000 families across the United States. It is the only US-based organization rooted in Latino and Caribbean immigrant communities that works transnationally to create an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable way of life. Learn more at alianzaamericas.org.