U.S. Sen. Martin HeinrichU.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is continuing to lead efforts to ensure that the information provided by individuals as part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is protected and not used for enforcement purposes.
Heinrich, along with U.S. Senators Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), led a letter today to the Department of Homeland Security demanding clarity on the Trump Administration’s position on the use of personal information provided by Dreamers, young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.
“Since its inception, the DACA program has allowed nearly 800,000 young people to come out of the shadows to work, go to school, serve in the military and contribute more fully to their communities,” wrote the members. “The United States government committed to these young people that the information that they provided to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as part of the DACA program would not be used against them or their families for immigration enforcement purposes and people applying for DACA relied on this assurance in submitting applications.”
Earlier this year, Heinrich introduced the Protect Dreamer Confidentiality Act of 2017 to safeguard the private information—such as addresses and telephone numbers—of Dreamers to ensure that they are not targeted by the Trump Administration for deportation.
“These are some of our brightest students and veterans who came forward based on the promise that our government would not deport them and provided personal information about themselves and their families. However, DREAMers across the country now face a harsh uncertainty about their future and are worried that the information they shared will be used against them. To do this would be an extraordinary and unprecedented breach of trust by our government,” Heinrich said. “That is why I introduced the Protect DREAMer Confidentiality Act to safeguard DREAMers’ private information—such as addresses and telephone numbers. We must protect the personal information DACA applicants entrusted with the government and ensure that they are not unfairly targeted.”
The letter was signed by nearly three dozen Senate Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), and House Tri-Caucus Chairs U.S. Representatives Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-1), Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Judy Chu (CA-27), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and Cedric Richmond (LA-2), Congressional Black Caucus.
The full text of the letter is below and is available here.
