Congressman Rothman's Statement on the Obama Administration's Protection of DREAM-Eligible Youth

Statement

Congressman Steve Rothman (NJ-9) released the following statement on the decision by the Obama Administration to protect DREAM-eligible youth from deportation:

As a step toward comprehensive immigration reform, I applaud President Obama's leadership in making the American dream more accessible.

The President has given hundreds of thousands of young people living in the U.S. the freedom to pursue a college education, serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, and have an opportunity at the American dream, without the fear of deportation. Children of illegal immigrants who have been raised in the United States should not be punished for choices their parents made and should be allowed to live in our great country.

President Obama's directive to help the children of immigrants who would be eligible for the DREAM Act is real progress, but there is still much more work to be done. America needs comprehensive immigration reform that includes the establishment of a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented immigrants who are already in the United States.

While our nation must still protect its borders and deport violent, undocumented individuals, we must accept the reality that the deportation of the approximately 12 million undocumented men, women and children already in our country is not financially feasible or morally acceptable. At the same time that we create stronger barriers to illegal immigration, we must provide the pathway to citizenship that will allow our country to enroll undocumented persons and their children, already here, the chance to come out of the shadows, pay taxes and contribute to the economic and intellectual growth and well-being of our beloved nation.

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