To bring him home quickly and to raise public awareness of this issue as well as give people a voice on this issue.

Donald Trump lowered the bar even further with his vile comments about Haiti, El Salvador and African countries. He reconfirmed what we already know: he has fully embraced white supremacy and there are no limits to his attacks on people of color. His comments do not reflect the American values many of us hold close to our hearts. His disgraceful approach to immigration reform is leaving millions of young immigrants and TPS holders vulnerable to his deportation machine.

Scarcely a day goes by that the president does not make outrageous and offensive remarks that embarrass the country before the world, undermine the serious business of governing, and exacerbate divisions among the people. Congress must step up to reprimand this latest flagrantly racist remark, made in the presence of several of its members, or risk being seen as complicit in a dangerous degradation of our national dialog.

I don’t want to waste money on another monolith let alone a Wall.

The White House and several U.S. Senators and Members of Congress have proposed to terminate our family-immigration system, the diversity visa program and severely limit the number of refugees allowed in the U.S thereby reducing the annual number of immigrants granted lawful permanent residence in the U.S. by more than 50%. The over 43 million immigrants living in the U.S. are the backbone and multi-ethnic fiber of our communities giving our country competitive advantage while providing economic opportunities, freedom, safety, and stability to many who need it most. The majority of these immigrants came through our family-based immigration system. Americans hold family in the highest regard. Labels such as “chain migration” and “merit-based” dismiss the “family” altogether. These labels also seek to mask the real goals of these policies which is to phase out the number of diverse immigrants granted permanent resident status and eventual citizenship. The Diversity Visa Program allows for 50,000 permanent residency visas annually. The Diversity Visa Program, has become an integral pathway to lawful permanent residency as well as ensuring equitable migration from nations and regions with low migration rates to the U.S. In FY 2014, 22,703 Africans, 8,500 Asians, and 1,474 people from Latin America and the Caribbean were admitted into the U.S. as part of the yearly allotment of Diversity Visas. Many thriving and diverse communities in the U.S. would not exist without these immigration pathways.

Osman Aroche Enriquez is just one of 12,000 Dreamers who have lost their DACA protections since September, when Trump decided to end the successful program. For Osman, the reason was a three-week postal delay (Trump gave Dreamers just one month to reapply for DACA status, and Osman's re-application papers spent a full three weeks in transit). According to Vox.com, Osman's DACA re-application arrived at the USCIS service center in Chicago on October 10 — three weeks after he mailed it. It was too late for ICE: his application was rejected. This is outrageous, and it has already gone too far. Fathers like Osman should not have to spend their son's birthday in jail, while Congress drags its feet on the Dream Act. ICE must #FreeOsman before his son's birthday on Saturday, and Congress must pass a clean #DreamActNow -- before leaving for the holidays. The U.S. should not detain and deport Dreamers who have grown up and built their lives here. Leaders in Congress have been delaying a vote on the Dream Act --despite a letter signed by 34 Republican Members of Congress calling on Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell to act, they have said that they should wait until March to get this done. The truth is, every day Congress delays, 122 more DACA youth lose their status. Every day they wait, another family like Osman's is at risk of being torn apart, divided, and left in limbo. We are calling on ICE to free Osman, on Osman's elected leaders to speak up to free Osman, and for the leaders of both the House and Senate to pass the Dream Act before leaving for the holidays, so Dreamers won't have to spend the holidays in fear.

Congress will vote on a continuing resolution to fund the government on or by December 22nd. Many Democrats have said that they won't vote for a continuing resolution unless it includes a Clean Dream Act, e.g. no wall funding and no more funding to militarize the border. Rep. Peterson, a Democrat, says he supports DREAMers but has been ambivalent about what he means by that. This petition is intended to help him clarify his thinking. There are many DREAMers in District 7 and we all need Rep. Peterson to provide them with some hope.

I have not been affected, but my sympathies are definitely with the young Dreamers who deserve better.

The SECURE Act would increase deportation agents, increase border patrol agents, make immigrants fear local police, increase racial profiling, force immigrants to quit their jobs, and undermine family immigration policies. These are policies that will undermine the Dream Act, and John Cornyn knows it. But this is what he wants Democrats to trade in a deal for the Dream Act. Cornyn has done this for YEARS. He says he supports immigrants and pro-immigrant policies, but when it comes to legislation he’s a hardliner through and through. John Cornyn needs to stop playing games with the lives of 800,000 Dreamers, including more than 124,000 in Texas alone. Tell him to support the bipartisan Dream Act instead of poison pill legislation!

DACA protects immigrants who were brought to the united states at a young age, in return DACA requires those to come out and register that they are here and will not be deported. The common misconception is that DACA recipients receive federal aid, but in reality they do not.

Nelson Pinos has been living in a church on the New Haven green since November 30th. He sleeps on a mattress and box spring on the floor in an administrative office on the 2nd level. Family and friends visit when they can. Nelson is very grateful to the church community for welcoming him, but also acknowledges that being separated from his family is like being in jail. Nelson’s family visits whenever they can. Brandon, Nelson's 5-year-old son, keeps asking why his dad can't leave the church. Brandon has been actively working on perfecting the letter "G" while visiting his dad after school - trying to keep up with the kindergarten homework as best he can. He doesn’t understand why the family can’t wake up together on Christmas morning. Kelly, at 15, is thinking she'll have to get a job to help support the family. Nelson is the sole provider for this family of 5, having worked at the same company for 15 years. Kelly's currently a sophomore in high school, so it will be hard to work and maintain her grades. Supporters have set up a fundraising account to help the family through this difficult time (https://www.youcaring.com/search/go?w=nelson%20pinos). Please sign this petition, and join us as we denounce the injustices of this administration against Nelson’s family and all immigrant families! Please help us get Nelson home. Please tell ICE that we value families. Keep Nelson Home! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc2R0EjE7T4 http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Pinos-set-for-deportation-seeks-sanctuary-in-12394791.php https://www.flickr.com/photos/eino_sierpe/albums/72157688117374562

Miriam Martinez-Lemus has lived in Connecticut for over 25 years with intermittent ICE check-ins. She has 2 minor daughters, one of whom needs constant monitoring to keep her insulin levels in check. Miriam was scheduled to be deported Monday, November 20th at 3 pm. Instead of boarding a one-way flight to Guatemala as ICE instructed her to, Miriam went home, saying publicly “I cannot leave my child. I cannot take her to Guatemala- there is no medicine for her. I must be by her side." One of Miriam’s daughters has insulin dependent type I juvenile diabetes. On a good day, her daughter's blood sugar levels are sustained with an insulin pump and only need to be checked every 2 hours- including while she sleeps. Most other days since she was diagnosed with this life-threatening disease 2 years ago, her daughter has fluctuations in blood sugar levels and ketones that require a cocktail of insulin injections and closer monitoring to prevent a seizure or worse. Miriam is the primary caretaker for her daughter, but part of a team that includes her husband Raphael and the good doctors at Yale New Haven Hospital's Children's Pediatric Endocrinology Department. All are concerned that taking Miriam away from her US citizen daughter might trigger a diabetic reaction. Miriam is home with her daughter today - defying ICE. But ICE now considers her a fugitive and could take her in to custody. The faith leaders in Connecticut have spoken out in support of Miriam. Her mayor, state representative, state senator, governor, US congressperson, and both US senators are outraged that a kind and loving woman with a medically needy child would be deported. They’ve called this cruel and inhumane. Please tell Congress and ICE that Miriam should NOT BE DEPORTED. We value Miriam and her family needs her to survive.