October 7, 2019 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) last Friday joined Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), and 46 current and former Senators in filing an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.  The Supreme Court will hear arguments on DACA on November 12, 2019.  President Trump terminated the DACA program on September 5, 2017, throwing the lives of nearly 800,000 DREAMers into chaos.

“President Trump’s decision to end DACA went against our values as a country. He has shown time and time again that he would rather use immigrants as political bargaining chips instead of treating them as human beings. That’s why I joined my Senate colleagues in an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to protect DACA recipients and our ideals of welcoming immigrants. Make no mistake, we will keep fighting until DREAMers have a fair shot at the American dream,” said Senator Harris.

In June, the House passed the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019.  This legislation will establish a path to citizenship for DREAMers and immigrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), whose protections President Trump has also ended.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has refused to allow a debate or vote on the bill for more than 100 days. For the past two years, President Trump rejected at least six different bipartisan proposals to solve the DACA crisis that he created.

Along with Harris and Durbin, the amicus brief is also signed by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tom Carper (D-DE), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus King, Angus (I-ME), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Gary Peters (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), as well as former Senators Gary Hart (D-CO), Carl Levin (D-MI), Harry Reid (D-NV), and Mark Udall (D-CO).

Full text of the amicus brief is available here.
Source: Senator Kamala D. Harris