TRENTON – Senator M. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) issued the following statement on the failure of Congress to act on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by President Obama in 2012. Congress voted for a spending bill last night to reopen the federal government without taking action to address DREAMers:
“The failure of Congress to approve DACA is unconscionable. It leaves 22,000 New Jerseyans in limbo and under the threat of losing their status and of deportation. This was a bad deal. DREAMers who were brought here as children are in this situation through no fault of their own. They deserve better than to live in uncertainty as a result of political gamesmanship in Washington.
“I stand with members of the New Jersey congressional delegation in the effort to renew DACA to provide certainty to the young people who only know this country as their home.
“We must also remember that DACA is a short-term solution to making sure these young people are able to continue living, studying and working in this country, but it is not a permanent remedy. Congress must work on comprehensive immigration reform to fix our broken system.”