U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers to reintroduce legislation aimed at providing a pathway to citizenship for long-term residents known as Documented Dreamers. These individuals were brought legally to the United States as children on their parents’ work visas.
The proposed America’s CHILDREN Act seeks to allow over 250,000 Documented Dreamers living in the country to remain and continue contributing, shielding them from deportation and other challenges resulting from current immigration laws.
“Dreamers are some of the hardest working people I’ve met—and as American as all of us. Their patriotism and dedication to our country inspires me, fuels our economy, and makes our nation stronger. Documented Dreamers are young people brought to the United States lawfully, but they face the risk of losing their status due to backlogs in our outdated immigration system. As the Trump Administration makes legal immigration all but impossible, this bill would help them stay in the only home they have ever known. It’s a bipartisan step and part of the immigration reform that the American people are demanding,” said Durbin.
Senator Alex Padilla highlighted that these young people “are Americans in every way except one: their parent’s green card is tied up in red tape.” He added that “our bipartisan bill would prevent these hardworking young members of our communities and economy from ‘aging out’ of their parents’ visa status when they turn 21, and create additional green card opportunities for Documented Dreamers.”
Senator Rand Paul stated, “These children who have legally called the United States home for many years and even decades, are contributing members in our communities and to our economy. They shouldn’t be penalized by the government’s failures in addressing green card backlogs. The America’s Children Act provides targeted relief for these children of merit-based immigrants who are at risk of ‘aging out’ of their lawful immigration status, and I’m pleased to join Sen. Padilla in introducing this bill.”
Representative Deborah Ross noted that “Documented Dreamers are members of our communities — they study at our schools, learn alongside our children, and attend our houses of worship in North Carolina and nationwide. Despite these deep ties, many of them are at risk of deportation from the country they love and call home.”
Dip Patel, Founder of Improve The Dream, expressed gratitude toward lawmakers: “We are deeply grateful to the bipartisan leaders reintroducing America’s Children Act. Fixing this loophole puts in place a policy most Americans assume already exists and ensures that America reaps the benefits of the contributions from the children it raised and educated.”
Currently under U.S. visa rules, dependent children can maintain legal status until age 21; however, due to lengthy green card backlogs many age out before obtaining permanent residency or another legal status—forcing some families apart or leaving individuals without clear options.
The legislation proposes protections so that Documented Dreamers retain their eligibility for permanent residency after turning 21 rather than losing status because they aged out while waiting through processing delays.
In addition to Senators Durbin, Padilla, and Paul sponsoring or cosponsoring this measure in Congress along with Representatives Ross and Miller-Meeks leading efforts in the House chamber—other cosponsors include Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Chris Coons (D-DE), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), John Curtis (R-UT), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) as well as numerous House representatives across party lines.
The bill has received endorsements from organizations such as Improve The Dream, Americans For Prosperity, Niskanen Center, The Libre Initiative, National Immigration Forum, and Council on National Security and Immigration.
Senator Durbin has been involved with similar efforts since first introducing the DREAM Act nearly twenty-four years ago—a legislative initiative intended for undocumented immigrants brought into America as minors—to offer pathways toward citizenship if certain requirements were met.
In previous years Durbin advocated directly with President Obama regarding protection against deportation for eligible youth; this advocacy contributed toward establishment of DACA which has since provided more than 835,000 recipients with deferred action enabling them employment opportunities within various sectors including education healthcare engineering business ownership among others.
Despite passing comprehensive reform measures through Senate channels—as was seen during passage by a vote margin 68-32 during 2013—the House did not take up related bills while Republican filibusters have blocked advancement multiple times over recent decades.
