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Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi Denounces White House's Extreme Demands For Agreement To Protect Dreamers

October 9, 2017

"The poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty closes with the words ‘I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’ The White House’s list of demands seems intended to slam that door shut."

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi released the following statement in response to the White House's list of demands for an agreement to protect Dreamers after the end of DACA:

"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. The poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty closes with the words ‘I lift my lamp beside the golden door!' The White House's list of demands seems intended to slam that door shut.

The White House's proposal will do nothing to increase wages for working families, grow our economy, or build a more prosperous future. It only makes sense if their goal is to decrease the number of immigrants coming to the United States, which study after study has shown would hinder economic growth and reduce income for the middle class.

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. We don't have time for partisan brinksmanship and while my Democratic colleagues and I are open to reasonable immigration reform, that is not what the White House is proposing. Now is the time for the President and Congress to come together and pass the bipartisan DREAM Act, allowing millions to stay in the only home they've ever known."