TRENTON – Senator Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D-Hudson) issued the following statement on yesterday’s announcement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions regarding the Trump Administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by President Obama in 2012:
“The President’s decision to end DACA is beyond disappointing. It is callous and cruel.
“With the implementation of DACA, we told young people who grew up in the United States they would be protected from deportation. We gave them the ability to pursue their dreams of obtaining a higher education and employment in hospitals, pharmacies, in high-tech industries, at law firms, in schools and daycares. Dreamers are emergency responders and health care workers, they are firefighters and members of our Armed Forces. They are an integral part of this country. Canceling DACA was a heartless political decision by the President and places 800,000 young people, 22,000 of whom are New Jerseyans, at risk of losing their legal status, their jobs and the only life they’ve known in this country.
“Congress must act to pass legislation and reverse this reprehensible action. I am committed to making sure Dreamers who call New Jersey and my district home have a voice as we work to ensure they can remain here and continue to pursue the American Dream.”