Demand for 'Clean Dream Act' Grows as Trump Pushes Xenophobic Wish List

"As each day passes more and more immigrant youth lose their protection from deportation," said United We Dream. (Photo: The Education Trust/Twitter)

Demand for 'Clean Dream Act' Grows as Trump Pushes Xenophobic Wish List

"By cancelling DACA, Trump has put 800,000 young people at risk of losing their jobs and being deported. This is beyond heartbreaking—it's cruel."

With more than 800,000 young immigrants facing the possibility of deportation following President Donald Trump's widely denounced decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program last month, immigrant rights groups took to social media and the streets Thursday to demand that their representatives work to pass a "clean" DREAM Act and reject the Trump administration's "xenophobic" policy wish list.

"As each day passes more and more immigrant youth lose their protection from deportation. We need Congress to act now."
--United We Dream
United We Dream, MoveOn.org, the National Immigrant Law Center, and other advocacy groups circulated sample call scripts and other tools, urging citizens throughout the United States to contact their representatives and demand that they protect Dreamers.

"We all have a role to play now to fight back against Trump and this white supremacist agenda to take safety and jobs away from young people of color," said United We Dream.

"By cancelling DACA, Trump has put 800,000 young people at risk of losing their jobs and being deported from the only country they know as home," the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) added. "This is beyond heartbreaking--it's cruel. Passing the bipartisan Dream Act would protect them."

Activists also hit the road to demonstrate, gather petitions, and march in support of the DREAM Act, which polls have shown is supported by 75 percent of the American public. Led by the group Make the Road New York, dozens of activists on Thursday embarked on a 12-mile walk to demand that Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) support the DREAM Act.

"We are asking him to co-sponsor and commit to passing a clean DREAM Act, free of more draconian enforcement provisions and we are asking him to play more of a leadership role," Walter Barrientos, an organizer with Make the Road New York, toldNewsday.

"As each day passes more and more immigrant youth lose their protection from deportation," United We Dream concluded. "We need Congress to act now."

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