Raja Krishnamoorthi criticizes White House’s extreme demands for protecting Dreamers
The Illinois Democrat asks Trump and Congress to come together and pass the bipartisan DREAM Act.
Indian American lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi on Monday criticized the White House’s “extreme demands” for protecting Dreamers, saying that they are contrary to the spirit and identity of the nation.
Krishnamoorthi said in a statement that it’s disappointing that the administration has put forth a list of demands that run contrary to the spirit of comprehensive immigration reform and our basic identity as a nation of immigrants.
“At best, this list is meant as a nod to the far right and at worse, it is a full-on attempt to kill any agreement to protect Dreamers,” said Krishnamoorthi.
He quoted the poem written below the Statue of Liberty that ends with the words “I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” calling the move of the White House as intended to shut the same door mentioned in the poem.
He added that the proposal of the White House will not increase wages for working families, grow American economy, or build a prosperous future, but instead it will make the economy dip further and reduce the income of the middle class. “It only makes sense if their goal is to decrease the number of immigrants coming to the United States,” he said.
“Unless we come to an agreement to protect Dreamers, the administration will begin mass deportations of thousands of DACA recipients in less than five months,” Krishnamoorthi warned.
The congressman said he and his Democratic colleagues are open for immigration reforms that are reasonable but he said that the time has already exceeded for partisan “brinksmanship” and the White House seems to be not interested in such a political discourse.
He asked the President and Congress to come together and pass the bipartisan DREAM Act, allowing millions to stay in the US, which is the only home they’ve ever known.
Photo Credit: The American Bazaar