Texas Democrats Mark 14 Years of DACA With Push for Permanent Citizenship Pathway

Fourteen years after the creation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Texas Democrats in Congress are renewing their push for a permanent pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, backing legislation they say would replace years of uncertainty with lasting protections.

The American Dream and Promise Act, introduced by Representative Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), would allow eligible DACA recipients and other Dreamers with temporary immigration status to move toward citizenship by applying for legal status and meeting certain requirements. It would also provide long-term protections for people who have lived in the United States for years but do not have permanent legal status.

Rep. Garcia said this act, which passed the House in 2019 and 2021 but did not advance in the Senate, would support the millions of immigrants who compose American businesses, culture and communities.

“Dreamers are American in every way but on paper. For decades, they have contributed to and shaped the fabric of America,” Rep. Garcia said. “Yet, they are currently denied their place in the American story.”

Dreamers Caught in Crackdown

As President Donald Trump’s administration intensifies its immigration enforcement policies, Rep. Garcia said immigrants are being detained and deported at alarming rates, but what is just as alarming is the number of children being swept up into this “mass deportation scheme.”

“Many dreamers were brought here as babies,” Rep. Garcia said. “But DACA was never meant to be the finish line; it was meant to be a start. And for 14 years, dreamers have been forced to live one renewal at a time.”

Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX) said he witnessed this when he and Rep. Garcia, along with several other Democratic members, conducted site visits to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, a family detention facility in Texas. Rep. Menefee described the center’s conditions, as well as the country’s current immigration policy, as “inhumane.”

“And I saw at Dilley, not just men and women who had been detained and will be deported, but we saw kids,” Rep. Menefee said. “And you could see in their eyes the pain and the trauma that has come from President Trump’s immigration practices.”

Rep. Menefee said he has also seen just how vital immigrants are to communities across the country, but especially in Houston, a city with one of the largest immigration populations in the country.

“These are folks who come over here, they do a good job, they study in school, many of them go to college and graduate, they start businesses, they make our economy boom,” Rep. Menefee said. “And we should have an immigration policy that treats them with the dignity and respect and humanity that they deserve.”

A 14-Year-Old Promise

Although Rep. Menefee was one of the newer sponsors of the bill, having just joined Congress earlier this year, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) said he has long been a co-sponsor and advocate for the bill.

“I will continue to be a co-sponsor of this piece of legislation because it will make a difference in the lives of young people who came to our country not of their own volition, but because someone or somehow, they were brought to this country,” Rep. Green said.

As DACA continues to face uncertainty and immigration remains the center of lawmakers’ debate, Rep. Garcia said this act would reaffirm what many Americans already know.

“Dreamers are home, and they’re here to stay.”