DREAMers (Development, Relief, And Education for Alien Minors) who met with Congressman Henry Cuellar in Laredo in early January say that Cuellar’s vote in the House last Thursday for a Continuing Resolution for a spending bill puts them at risk of deportation.
A statement from the Laredo Immigrant Alliance (LIA) and La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), who say they represent thousands of Cuellar’s constituents and 6,000 DREAMers in Webb County, reads, “We are saddened and devastated by Mr. Cuellar’s vote and his inability to protect DREAMers.”
Cuellar responded in a statement issued by his Laredo office. “What they are saying just isn’t true. What’s worse is that they know it is not true. I have been one of the longest and strongest supporters of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and DREAMers. I have met with them face-to-face on multiple occasions, and have told them very specifically that I would not be willing to shut down the government over any single issue because it would severely impact veterans, military service members, educators, and federal workers across the country that depend on steady paychecks. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a federal shutdown would have sent 63 percent of CDC employees home during one of the worst flu epidemics in years — and this would have been simply unacceptable,” the Congressman said.
John-Michael Torres, a spokesperson for LUPE, a nonprofit activist organization founded in 1989 by farmworker and civil rights leaders Cesar E. Chavez and Dolores Huerta, doesn’t agree. “With this shameful vote, Congressman Cuellar has joined the deportation caucus. Cuellar’s constituents, like most Americans, support immigrant youth and want to see them remain in the country.”
Torres said that Cuellar knows the Trump Administration is “going after DREAMers.” He cited the example of 10-year-old Rosa Maria Hernandez whose ambulance from Laredo to Corpus Christi was followed by U.S. Border Patrol agents. “They arrested her,” Torres said, adding, “Every day that Congress does not pass a Clean DREAM Act, 122 young immigrants lose protection from detention and deportation. Congressman Cuellar has just voted to deport them.”
Cuellar said he has been an advocate for DREAMers. “I am an original co-sponsor for the Clean Dream Act, which would grant recipients a path to citizenship in the United States. As I have explained several times, this is a complex process and we will address and fix the issue of DACA responsibly. My experience also tells me the DREAMers issue will be resolved,” he said.
DREAMer Karina Alvarez, who grew up in Laredo and graduated from Texas A&M International University in 2012 with a degree in communication disorders, is a spokesperson for LIA. She said she wants there to be an urgency for lawmakers like Cuellar to pass DREAM legislation.
Misconceptions about DREAMers, she said, are an impediment. “There is a perception that we live on federal assistance, that we don’t pay taxes, that we steal jobs. That doesn’t describe me,” she said.
Joey Saldaña, who attended the meeting with Congressman Cuellar, said, “For him to have seen us and to advocate his full support for the DREAM Act, it seemed that he was very sincere. He said that the Democrats in Congress were in full support.” Saldaña, an LIA member and a DACA permit recipient, said he felt betrayed. “My trust has gone beyond the point of repair for the man that our people chose to represent us. By Mr. Cuellar’s decision to vote ‘Yes’ to a continuing resolution that does not contain a DREAM Act, he has voted for the deportation of not just hundreds but thousands of hard working individuals.”
Saldaña, who was born in San Luis Potosi and came to Laredo as a two-year-old, attended elementary, middle, and high school in Laredo. He is 22 and works in customer service with HEB. He came here with his mother, of whom he said, “She is undocumented, and she is unafraid.”
Saldaña continued, “We obey the law, pay taxes, and give back to the community. In return, we get a two-year permit to be here. I cannot apply for a student loan to help pay for a college education, I am not able to visit my family in Mexico. I don’t have a pathway to American citizenship. I would like to enroll in college, graduate, and one day open my own business, a business that opens its doors for jobs to everyone.” He added, “We have a lot to offer. We are part of the future of America, including its future leadership,” he said.
Saldaña, recently returned from Washington, D.C. where he was part of United We Dream protests, said, “It was very important to me that I was standing up for my immigrant community and for any minority that has faced injustice. It is the battlefield,” he said.
“The promise that we can be here is up in the air. It’s devastating to live in limbo. The juggler in Washington loses his concentration, and one of the balls is about to fall. That ball is 800,000 DACA recipients,” he said.
“There are many that tell us ‘go back to your country.’ This is my country, the only country I have known,” he said.
(LIA is a group led by immigrants and allies that fight for immigrant rights. It does so by engaging, educating, and organizing the community. LUPE is a membership-based organization and our strength is found in the participation of our over eight thousand members. LUPE is a member organization of the RGV Equal Voice Network. Learn more about LUPE online at www.lupenet.org)
POSTSCRIPT:
In a January 20 statement regarding the government shutdown, Congressman Cuellar said in a statement by email:
“I am also disappointed that Congress did not pass crucial legislation to help protect our DREAMers, who embody true American values. As one of the longest and strongest supporters of DACA, I will continue to support these active individuals, who contribute greatly to the successes of our country. However, these matters are required to pass through a complex system which could not be responsibly resolved through this vote. For this reason, I voted in favor of the continuing resolution because I do not believe that shutting down the government over any single issue would be in the best interest for the constituents in my district, or for people across the nation.”
