With the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act finally signed into law and the Build Back Better Act passed in the House, Congress must continue working for the American people and support our communities across the nation. America’s immigration system hasn’t been reformed in decades and, like our nation’s infrastructure, is in desperate need of repair to protect the immigrants endangered by its failures.
The end of summer is an exciting time for students as they connect with classmates, begin new classes, and continue to pursue education to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to have that same optimism when looking towards my own future. I am an undocumented immigrant, meaning that nothing is certain for me. When I was a child, my family and I left Mexico and came to Colorado in search of a better life. If Congress fails to provide Dreamers like me with an earned pathway to citizenship, my hard work could be for nothing if I’m forced from my home here in the U.S. before I have the chance to truly begin my career. This is unfair and harmful to me and all Coloradans. We need change so that the hard work of thousands of undocumented immigrants in Colorado is not wasted.
I came to the U.S. in second grade, undocumented. I’m now 25 years old, and for the last nine years, I have endured a bureaucratic maze that may or may not lead towards U.S. citizenship. I still await my naturalization, but I hope that soon enough other immigrants can join me when our U.S. Congress finally creates a pathway to citizenship for millions like me.
Last week a federal judge declared Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Obama-era program that protects immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, unlawful. While the Biden administration has promised to appeal the decision, Colorado immigrant advocacy groups said the ruling illuminates the need for lasting immigration reform in Congress.
Three fraternity men, four “Dreamers” and a University of Colorado history professor were on stage Wednesday night in Boulder’s Dairy Arts Center.
Dozens of immigrant advocates rallied at the Ralph L. Carr Judicial Center in Downtown Denver Tuesday evening after the U.S. Supreme Court began considering the fate of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children and were protected from deportation by the Obama Administration, referred to as “Dreamers.”
U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), who’s currently deciding whether he supports Trump’s national-emergency declaration, once opposed an Obama action because Gardner thought it represented an unacceptable abuse of power by the president.
Over the past six weeks, since U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) promised to restart his efforts to collect signatures on a “discharge petition” to force the U.S. House of Representatives to vote on legislation that would temporarily protect some so-called Dreamers from deportation, Coffman has apparently failed to convince a single Congressman, Democrat or Republican, to sign it.
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) recommitted this week to force a House vote to protect Dreamers from deportation, if there is no legislative fix by March 5, when the program’s phaseout under Trump is complete.
During a raucous town hall meeting Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) backed off a pledge of support for the Dream Act, which he co-sponsored just last year.
