Thursday, March 28, 2024

Biden Plans Meeting with DACA Recipients to Highlight Immigration Priorities

President Biden plans to meet with six DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients today as his administration highlights that an immigration reform remains a legislative priority.

Last month, Biden addressed Congress calling on lawmakers to “end our exhausting war over immigration.” While pushing his plan to extend citizenship to more than 11 million undocumented immigrants. He also said Congress could act to secure protections for DREAMers.

The DACA recipients will meet Biden today to discuss the administration’s argument for placing an executive action into law, highlighting essential workers in fields like education, agriculture, and health care.

Attending the meeting are Maria Praeli, who came to the U.S. from Peru at the age of 5 and now works for an immigration advocacy group,Astou Thiane, who was born in Senegal and now works for Teach for America, Esmeralda Tovar-Mora, who came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was only 18 months old and now is pursuing a nursing degree, Leydy Rangel, daughter of migrant workers in California and now works for the United Farm Workers,Jirayut “New” Latthivongskorn, who came to the U.S. from Thailand at the age of 9, and Karen Reyes, who came to the U.S. from Mexico at the age of 2 and works now as a deaf education specialist.

The meeting is just the second one of DACA recipients in the Oval office, the first one was in 2015 which also involved Biden, who was then Vice President. In March, the House of Representatives passed a pair of immigration bills that would create a path to citizenship for DREAMers as well as give legal status to farmworkers. However, the legislation faces uncertainty in the Senate.

NBC