Senate Introduces Bills to Protect Immigrants Eligible for DACA, TPS, and DED

WASHINGTON — The Dream Act of 2019 and the Secure Act were introduced today in the Senate. These two bills would protect Dreamers and those eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) from deportation by providing them with a pathway to citizenship.

Lorella Praeli, American Civil Liberties Union deputy political director, said:

“These bipartisan bills would protect people whose lives were thrown into chaos by the Trump administration when it called for an end to these programs.

“It’s incumbent upon our Senators to correct its mistakes from 2010, when the House passed the Dream Act but the Senate did not. The ACLU also urges Senators to re-examine the provisions in these bills that unnecessarily limit protections for certain individuals and that create overbroad exceptions to privacy or confidentiality.

“Dreamers, TPS, and DED beneficiaries, and immigrant communities across the country live in the purgatory of an uncertain future in the United States. Undocumented and immigrant activists worked tirelessly to push the country forward, but with the administration’s proven hostility to immigrants, Congressional action cannot be delayed any further. The Senate can begin by passing these two bills.”