Ed MarkeyVerified account

#Dreamers know no other home than the United States. And many of them have spent their lives in limbo, identifying as Americans but lacking legal status and under the constant threat of being sent back to countries that are completely foreign to them.

#DACA created security and opportunity for hundreds of thousands of young #Dreamers, allowing them to live and work in our great nation without the threat of deportation. So what DACA really stands for is Deserving A Chance in America.

I would like take a moment to speak about one of these Massachusetts #Dreamers who benefited from #DACA. Her name is Estefany.

She came to the United States at nine years old to escape violence in El Salvador. She was brought here by her grandmother along with her two sisters and a baby cousin.

Estefany was overjoyed to be reunited with her mother, who had come to the United States a few years before the rest of the family. Estefany was grateful for the opportunity. she was given and did not want to squander it.

Her work ethic and desire to deserve her family’s sacrifices were what motivated Estefany and got her through the many hardships that come with being undocumented – fear, uncertainty, anxiety.

Estefany is now attending UMass Boston, where she is pursuing a degree in International Relations and a minor in public policy. So, it sounds like a happy ending. But sadly, it is not. On Estefany’s first day as a freshman at UMass Boston, @realDonaldTrump repealed #DACA.

As Estefany put it, “After so many tears and sleepless nights, it felt like all my hard work was being thrown away.” But Estefany is a fighter and she is not giving up on her college education or a career. I know she will succeed if she is just given the chance.

#Dreamers are young people like Estefany, who study, who serve, who work, and who live next-door to us every single day. They are our friends, our neighbors, and our loved ones. They are not “too lazy”. They are not “bad hombres”. They are some of our best and our brightest.

Right here, right now we could pass a bill to protect these young immigrants. But instead, the Republicans decided to use #Dreamers as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations. This is shameful. It is immoral. It is a national tragedy.

America is a nation of immigrants built and fueled by communities coming to our shores to create better lives. We take in the tired, the poor, the huddled masses. Our country is enriched by diversity & we believe that the American Dream is not determined by where you were born.