Indy Congressional Tracker: Democratic delegates get behind legislation to protect DREAMers
Nevada’s delegates got back to business this week in Washington, D.C.
After an August recess full of meet-and-greets across the state, they returned to the nation’s political hub, where President Donald Trump ordered a “wind-down” of a program that has protected more than 13,000 young immigrants in Nevada from deportation.
The controversial decision about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday, puts pressure on Congress to act on this immigration issue within six months.
Nevada’s Democratic delegates — Reps. Jacky Rosen, Dina Titus and Ruben Kihuen — took a step in that direction by co-sponsoring the DREAM Act of 2017, which would grant conditional permanent residency to anyone younger than 18 who’s lived in the United States for at least four years. It’s one of several bills being floated as possible solutions to protect so-called “dreamers.”
Rosen has already called upon Republican Sen. Dean Heller to publicly support the DREAM Act. (Heller opposed the DREAM Act when he ran in 2012.) This is what Heller had to say about DACA earlier in the week:
“While I remain concerned about the way in which DACA came to life, I've made clear that I support the program because hardworking individuals who came to this country through no fault of their own as children should not be immediately shown the door," Heller said in a statement to the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesday. "This is why I am a co-sponsor of the BRIDGE Act, which provides legal status for these individuals while Congress works toward a permanent solution through the proper constitutional process. Just as I have in the past, I'll continue to work with my colleagues to reform our broken immigration system and that must start with securing our borders; however, we cannot lose sight of the fact that our country has a long history of welcoming immigrants and our communities in Nevada are stronger because of it."
The DACA debate wasn’t the only conversation happening in D.C. Check out The Nevada Independent’s congressional vote tracker and other information below to see what our state’s delegates threw their support behind this week.
SEN. DEAN HELLER:
Legislation co-sponsored:
- S. 1766 - A bill to reauthorize the SAFER Act of 2013, and for other purposes.
REP. JACKY ROSEN:
Legislation co-sponsored:
- H.R. 2797 - Patient Choice and Quality Care Act of 2017
- H.R. 3440 - Dream Act of 2017
- H.Res. 507 - Expressing support for the designation of September 2017 as "National Campus Sexual Assault Awareness Month".
REP. RUBEN KIHUEN:
Legislation co-sponsored:
REP. DINA TITUS:
Legislation co-sponsored:
- H.R. 3440 - Dream Act of 2017