This summer, the Trump Administration will decide whether to deport nearly 800,000 young immigrants who came to the United States as children and currently have no immigration status, a group often known as Dreamers. In 2012, President Obama used his executive power to protect Dreamers from deportation and allowed them to work and drive legally in the United States. Since then Dreamers have thrived under DACA, by going to school and contributing back to their local communities and economy. However, several officials within the Trump Administration have indicated that they intend on ending the DACA program - killing the dreams of hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who grew up only knowing America as their home and putting them on a path to deportation. Even Trump’s top immigration official even told Hispanic leaders in Congress to prepare for the worst in regards to the DACA program. The 2017 Dream Act, a bipartisan bill recently introduced in Congress, would allow Dreamers to stay in the United States and apply for citizenship. If we want to ensure that Dreamers are kept safe from Donald Trump’s Deportation Force, then Senator Alexander and Senator Corker must recognize them as the aspiring Americans that they are and protect the DACA program and co-sponsor the 2017 Dream Act.

This summer, the Trump Administration will decide whether to deport nearly 800,000 young immigrants who came to the United States as children and currently have no immigration status, a group often known as Dreamers. In 2012, President Obama used his executive power to protect Dreamers from deportation and allowed them to work and drive legally in the United States. Since then Dreamers have thrived under DACA, by going to school and contributing back to their local communities and economy. However, several officials within the Trump Administration have indicated that they intend on ending the DACA program - killing the dreams of hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who grew up only knowing America as their home and putting them on a path to deportation. Even Trump’s top immigration official told Hispanic leaders in Congress to prepare for the worst in regards to the DACA program. The 2017 Dream Act, a bipartisan bill recently introduced in Congress, would allow Dreamers to stay in the United States and apply for citizenship. If we want to ensure that Dreamers are kept safe from Donald Trump’s Deportation Force, then Senator Rubio must recognize them as the aspiring Americans that they are and pledge to protect the DACA program and co-sponsor the 2017 Dream Act.

Update: AG Kilmartin has signed onto AG Becerra (California)'s letter to the Trump administration directing them to defend DACA. Our focus is now on ensuring that our federal delegation sponsors the re-introduced Dream Act in order to codify permanent protection for Dreamers. ---- DACA, a policy memorandum issued in 2012 by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano, allows those who overstayed their visa or unlawfully entered the United States as children an opportunity to work, pay taxes, and remain in the U.S. without the constant fear of deportation. I am a DACA recipient. In 1998, I was brought to the U.S. from Portugal at the age of ten months. Prior to DACA, I was unsure of how I would live or work. I agonized over the fact that I wouldn't be able to seek lawful employment. I worried that I could be forced out of my home, the United States — the only country that I have ever known. I suffered from severe anxiety and depression. It was a challenge to merely get out of bed every morning. DACA changed my outlook on life. It has allowed me to obtain something as simple as a driver's license. It allows me to work and be treated with dignity. It allows to obtain an education and pursue the American Dream. But that dream is now at risk after ten states threatened to sue the Trump administration for continuing DACA. Dreamers are Americans in every way except for our citizenship status: something that we are not allowed to pursue because of our broken immigration system. If DACA is rescinded, the impact will be felt far beyond the 800,000 recipients nationwide that will be left jobless and unable to provide for their families. Ending DACA would have a grave economic impact on our communities, cities, and states as revenues shrink by over $800 million[2]. That is why we are calling on you, Governor Raimondo and Attorney General Kilmartin, to protect young Rhode Islanders by standing up to the Trump administration and demanding that the U.S. Justice Department defend DACA. Our federal delegation, Representatives Cicilline and Langevin, as well as Senators Reed and Whitehouse, must lead on this important issue by co-sponsoring legislation to codify a permanent solution for Dreamers. ---- [1] "Data Set: Form I-821D Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals." USCIS. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Biometrics Capture Systems, CIS Consolidated Operational Repository (CISCOR), 8 June 2017. Web. 20 July 2017. [2] Hill, Misha E., and Meg Wiehe. "State & Local Tax Contributions of Young Undocumented Immigrants." ITEP. Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 25 Apr. 2017. Web. 20 July 2017.

In his 2018 proposed budget, Trump has requested A LOT more money to fund the detention and deportation of immigrants, including: • funds to hire new ICE and Border Patrol agents to terrorize our communities, • more local police to focus on immigration enforcement, • a massive increase in immigrant detention—the equivalent of locking up the entire population of New Orleans over the course of a year, • $1.6 billion to build a southern border wall, and • further border militarization including aircraft and surveillance technology At the same time, the administration is seeking drastic cuts to vital housing, education, nutrition, and health care programs that help communities grow and thrive together, and is threatening to take away programs like DACA and Temporary Protected Status, which would subject hundreds of thousands more people to deportation. Congress is taking action on this budget right now. The bill in the House of Representatives gives Trump almost all of what he asked for, even though ICE and CBP have put the detention and deportation machine on steroids, regularly lie, hide information from the American public, and retaliate against anyone who speaks out. Join us in demanding your Representative and Senators #DefundHate by publicly calling for significant cuts to the detention and deportation machine, and voting NO on any bill which wastes any money on this unaccountable and abusive system.

In his 2018 proposed budget, Trump has requested A LOT more money to fund the detention and deportation of immigrants, including: • funds to hire new ICE and Border Patrol agents to terrorize our communities, • more local police to focus on immigration enforcement, • a massive increase in immigrant detention—the equivalent of locking up the entire population of New Orleans over the course of a year, • $1.6 billion to build a southern border wall, and • further border militarization including aircraft and surveillance technology At the same time, the administration is seeking drastic cuts to vital housing, education, nutrition, and health care programs that help communities grow and thrive together, and is threatening to take away programs like DACA and Temporary Protected Status, which would subject hundreds of thousands more people to deportation. Congress is taking action on this budget right now. The bill in the House of Representatives gives Trump almost all of what he asked for, even though ICE and CBP have put the detention and deportation machine on steroids, regularly lie, hide information from the American public, and retaliate against anyone who speaks out. Join us in demanding your Representative and Senators #DefundHate by publicly calling for significant cuts to the detention and deportation machine, and voting NO on any bill which wastes any money on this unaccountable and abusive system.

On June 29, 2017 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with 9 other Republican attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia, as well as the Governor of Idaho, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions calling for the Secretary of Homeland Security to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). In their ultimatum to the Trump Administration, the attorneys general present two options: get rid of DACA or they will fight to destroy it in the courts. The letter goes on to state that the Trump Administration has until September 5th, 2017 to begin the phase-out of DACA: halting the renewal and issuing of new DACA or expanded DACA permits and calling for an ultimate end to the program. If the administration does not act on the letter’s demand, the attorneys general will expand the lawsuit they used to end DAPA (a sister program meant to protect Dreamers' parents and family members) to now add a challenge to DACA. This is a serious threat for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, and it will take all of us raising our voices together to begin to turn the tide. DACA has allowed hundreds of thousands of qualified immigrant youth to gain legal protection, go to college, and support their families and communities. While Trump vowed he would leave Dreamers and DACA alone, a handful of states have now threatened to sue to try to end it themselves. As a DACA recipient myself, I believe in our power when we stand together. A handful of cynical Republicans want to trade our dignity and respect for cheap political points, but I am hopeful that our community and our allies will have our back. The first step in this fight is to ask Governors from every state to come out publicly defending -- instead of destroying -- DACA. They can use their power to make a strong case for why DACA is worth saving, but they need to hear from us that this is a critical priority.

UPDATE: Nury's request for a stay has been DENIED. She was scheduled to leave her 4 children on Thursday, July 20th. This would have meant she could not enter the US for 10 years. Instead, Nury has chosen to take sanctuary in a church in New Haven. We're contininuing to support the children through a GoFundMe page, as Nury Chavarria is now considered a fugitive and cannot financially support her children. But, she can hug them. She's a mom. Nury is not a criminal- she's a law abiding mother whose children need her. She fled the violence of Guatemala in 1993 seeking asylum in the US. She is a working mother who has complied with ICE requests for 24 years. There is NO COMPELLING reason to deport a young mother with dependent US children. Help us stop this inhumane treatment of our neighbors. This petition is sponsored by CT Shoreline Indivisible.

Right now, House Republicans are preparing to vote on two pieces of legislation that would expand the reach of Donald Trump’s mass-deportation agenda and allow Trump’s Deportation Force to destroy the lives of millions of immigrant families across the country. A bill known as H.R. 3003 would force local governments to carry out Trump’s inhumane deportation policies by threatening to take away funding for local law enforcement agencies, while a bill known as H.R. 3004 would increase the number of families that would be targeted for exile under Trump. Both of these bills are nothing more than attempts by Republicans to supercharge Trump’s cruel and costly deportation machine while doing nothing to fix our nation’s broken immigration system. Democrats must vote NO on both H.R. 3003 and H.R. 3004 if they are serious about protecting community safety and keeping hard-working immigrant families safe from Trump’s mass deportation agenda. They must stand on the right side of history and against Trump’s inhumane deportation force -- or be held accountable! With a dozen crises happening at once, we cannot let House Democrats cave to the already out-of-control Trump Administration by providing it with more unchecked authority to profile, apprehend, detain and deport our immigrant friends and neighbors at great cost to all of our communities.

As a American woman married to a Mexican man, and a 18 year old son who is joining National Guard, the immigration uproar shakes me to the core. The type of reform we need is to make it possible for our hard working Hispanic population to have a path to citizenship. The laws in both Mexico and American make it nearly impossible for poor Mexican people to migrate legally. As the granddaughter of a German immigrant who migrated after World War II it pains me to hear the Hispanic population spoken of like Jews during the Holocaust. We can not allow a Holocaust mentality in America such as mass incarceration & deportation of good hard working residents of our state & country. They're your construction workers, your mechanics, your cooks, your lawn care workers, your housekeepers, your nannies, perhaps your neighbors, your friends, your family, your fellow Oklahomans. It hurts me to see the Hispanic population in fear of Trumps agenda. Please do not send the Oklahoma National Guard to carry out such a atrocity. "Humans the only species that pay to live on earth."

Jesus Lara is a longtime Ohio resident, an aspiring American, and the father of four U.S. citizens. Earlier this year, Jesus was told by immigration enforcement authorities that he would be deported back to Mexico due to a traffic infraction from years ago. If elected like officials like Rep. Gibbs fail to intervene, Jesus will be deported in just a few weeks. Jesus is a loving father, taxpayer, homeowner, and valued member of the Willard, Ohio community. He is active in his church, and is known as a kind and helpful neighbor. He and his four U.S. Citizen children recently traveled to Washington, DC to meet with congressional offices and build support for his case. Congressman Bob Gibbs represents the Lara family in Washington, DC, and his office is looking into the case—but there's so much more he can do. If we want to stop Jesus' deportation, then we need leaders in like Congressman Gibbs to use their power to help the Lara family and get ICE to stop this deportation. Don't let Donald Trump deport Eric's father! Sign his petition urging Representative Bob Gibbs to be a real champion for Jesus and allow him to stay with his family.

Just after a hunger strike launched by nine detained asylum-seekers in Southern California made headlines across the country on Monday, they were brutally attacked by guards of the private prison company GEO Group (GEO). After they delivered a letter stating their demands to prison staff, GEO guards drenched the #Adelanto9 with pepper spray, beat them, handcuffed them, and transferred them to segregated housing. Some of the strikers were slammed against walls and floors and one was beaten severely enough that a dental crown was knocked out. Afterwards, strike participants reported that guards forced them to shower with hot water, which reacts with the pepper spray to greatly increase the pain, and that they were humiliated and insulted by prison staff. Despite their mistreatment, the #Adelanto9 are still on hunger strike three days later, and a group of 33 women also detained at Adelanto just announced that they, too, have begun a hunger strike! Like the 9 men whose hunger strike began on Monday, the women have demanded: 1. Adequate medical care: Adelanto is infamous for substandard medical care and is now the deadliest detention center of 2017, where three detained immigrants have died so far this year. 2. Treatment with respect: Guards for the private prison company which runs Adelanto, GEO Group, have brutalized hunger strikers and threatened others with assault, but this is just the most extreme form of daily humiliations reported by detained immigrants on a regular basis. Sara Salcido, one of the hunger strikers declares: “We want them to speak to us like we are humans, not animals. We don’t want to be disrespected and cursed at.” 3. Immediate release: Adelanto is currently holding detained immigrants on unreasonably high bonds, in the tens of thousands of dollars, which strikers have called “a humiliating joke” and not so different from the extortion demands that many of the asylum-seekers are fleeing. We call on ICE and GEO to investigate the use of force and threats by guards against hunger strikers, make the findings public, hold the guards as well as their chain of command accountable, and release all 42 hunger strikers immediately SEND A LETTER OF SUPPORT: Send a personal letter of support to the hunger strikers in Adelanto! Include a personal message in the "Comments" box at the top-left of this page (it can be in English or Spanish) and we will deliver your message to the hunger strikers as a letter to let them know they have support from around the country and around the world.

In June 2013, Holman Acosta Rodriguez was detained for driving without a license during a routine checkpoint, on his way home from a soccer game with his step-son. (In North Carolina undocumented people are not able to apply for drivers’ licenses.) For the past four (4) years Holman has remained in the United States under an Order of Supervision and been allowed to obtain a work permit and driver’s license. He has complied with every rule of his supervision so he might be able to stay united with his family. He is also the beneficiary of an approved petition, which was filed on behalf of his US citizen wife. If he is given more time to stay in the US he will be able to apply for a Green Card. Today, June 14, 2017, he went to a routine check-in with USCIS and was detained! Please sign this petition to FREE HOLMAN NOW! He is a good person, and an amazing husband and step-father. He supports his wife who has medical issues and can only work part time. Without Holman’s emotional and financial support his wife won’t be able to get the care she needs and her life will be put in danger. Please sign and share widely! Thank you for your support. - Familias Unidas, Charlotte, NC