Ending DACA will devastate the lives of 800,000 brave young adults who are currently working, attending school, and contributing to American society.
September 5, 2017 — For Immediate Release
NEW YORK — Today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke on behalf of the Trump Administration to announce an end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. Family Equality Council unequivocally condemns this cruel and inhumane decision, which will impact an estimated 800,000 individuals currently protected from deportation, including over 75,000 LGBTQ people.
In his announcement this morning, AG Sessions attempted to cast this decision as a compassionateone couched in “restoring the rule of law”, but in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Ending DACA will devastate the lives of 800,000 brave young adults who are currently working, attending school, and contributing to American society. The threat posed to LGBTQ “dreamers” is compounded by the intersection of their undocumented status and their LGBTQ identity. These 75,000 young adults are now facing deportation, often to countries where they have never set foot, and where their lives may be at risk.
In response to today’s announcement, Family Equality Council CEO Rev. Stan J. Sloan said: “It is hard to describe today’s announcement as anything less than mean spirited and heartbreaking. We now call on Congress to show true compassion by passing the bi-partisan DREAM Act to help keep families together, restore hope, and assure the safety of our children and youth.”
The Williams Institute estimates that of the 75,000 LGBTQ DREAMers in the United States, over 36,000 have participated in the DACA program, including 24,000 who have renewed their work authorizations. DACA allowed undocumented immigrants who entered the United States before the age of 16 and met other requirements, to apply for temporary work authorization and protection from deportation for a renewable two-year period.
About Family Equality Council
Family Equality Council connects, supports, and represents the three million parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer in this country today and their six million children of all ages. We are changing attitudes and policies to ensure that all families are respected, loved, and celebrated — including families with parents who are LGBTQ. We are a community of parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren and unattached youth that reaches across this country. For almost forty years we have raised our children and raised our voices toward fairness for all families. As we look to the next chapter of our work, we are also focused on LGBTQ youth needing families and the two million LGBTQ adults waiting to foster or adopt in our country.
Media Contact:
Ed Harris, Chief Communications Officer
646–880–3005 x117
media@familyequality.org