Statement on Rounds Amendment: Common Sense Caucus Failed to Produce Reasonable Solution

Supported by Senator Kaine, Mass Deportation Bill is a Set Back for Immigrant Families
FALLS CHURCH, VA (THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2018) – An immigration proposal from the U.S. Senate’s “Common Sense Caucus,” which includes Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), presents a series of troubling provisions that have been promoted by President Trump, including barring DACA recipients from petitioning their parents, dismantling core elements of the family immigration system by eliminating the possibility of legal permanent residents to petition their children over 21, and spending $25 billion on the Mexico-US border, while doing nothing to address the relentless separation of parents from their US-born children. Under this Administration, the check for $25 billion will lead to increasing harassment of immigrants and increased deportations.

The proposal doesn’t solve even the crisis facing DACA recipients. A 38-year old cap means that someone who arrived in the US at the age of 2 would not qualify if they are 39. Moreover, the proposal cuts out Dreamers who have TPS protections that the Trump Administration has callously ended — thousands of whom live in Virginia and Maryland. There was one imperative facing the Senate and that is a lasting solution for all Dreamers — this proposal does not meet the challenge.

Gustavo Torres, President of CASA in Action, issued the following statement:

“We are deeply disappointed in Senator Kaine, who constantly claims to be a friend of the immigrant community. From speeches in Spanish to his talks of missionary work in Honduras, he is now signing on to a bill that undermines the very concept of family.”

Sookyung Oh, D.C. Area Director of NAKASEC, issued the following statement:

“Let’s be clear. What our increasingly diverse state needs are real solutions that keep families together and unleash the full potential of immigrant youth. This bipartisan proposal creates and demands impossible choices when what we need is really simple: a clean DREAM Act to create a pathway to citizenship for our youth.”

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With 98,500+ members, CASA in Action is the Mid-Atlantic region’s largest electoral organization fighting for immigrant rights. Please visitCASAinAction.org

Founded in 1994, the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)’s mission is to organize Korean and Asian Americans to achieve social, economic, and racial justice. NAKASEC maintains offices in Annandale, Virginia and Los Angeles, California. NAKASEC has affiliates in Chicago (Hana Center) and Los Angeles and Orange County (Korean Resource Center). For NAKASEC photos and videos, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.