Boston, MA - The DREAM Action Coalition stands with all Americans in coming together not only to mourn the loss of life stemming from recent events in Boston, but also in coming together to celebrate our country's resilience to stand firm in the face of tragedy. We condemn Republican efforts to instill fear and division in the American people for the sake of their own political agenda to kill immigration reform. Their deceptive tactics have been apparent to many including the NYTimes who accurately illustrated that Republicans like Iowa Sen. Grassley, Rep. Steve King no longer have any good arguments to oppose immigration just that "about all they have left is scary aliens" and fear.
We are seeing Republicans like Sens. Sessions (R-AL) and Grassley (R-IA) are exploiting and rushing to judgment trying to instill fear and division in the American people. Just last week Senator Grassley said, "given the events of this week, it's important for us to understand the gaps and loopholes in our immigration system," apparently ignoring the fact that the Boston culprits were legal permanent resident and a U.S. Citizens.
But we must remember that modernizing our immigration system will allow people to step out of the shadow and be identified further increasing the government's understanding of who and why someone is in the U.S. Indeed, the Senate's bill - S.744, Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act - is primarily about public safety and national security. The national security force of SB 744 is recognized by Republicans such as Republican Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (S-SC).
Sen. Grassley is demonstrating a utter disregard of the wishes of the American people who, in record numbers, are supporting a pathway to citizenship. Despite the fact that the very tough town of Boston has gone back to life as normal, Sen. Grassley and others outside of Boston are trying to inject an un-American sense of fear and division into the nation to gain political leverage on the immigration debate. Republicans on immigration are looking very much like Republican Arizona firebrands like Joe Arpaio and Jan Brewer for misleading their Arizonans with notions like there being beheaded bodies in the desert (there were none).
Caught in the middle of all this are 11 million people who had nothing to do with this act of terrorism, but it is their lives that will be the most intensely and intimately affected by dragging the Boston incident into the debate and painting every immigrant with the same terrorist brush:
"Hey fb friends! I know we are all scared, hurt, and confused right now but we need to be careful. Let's not jump to conclusions or spread misinformation. I have already seen posts on Facebook blaming "illegals" (please stop using that word), immigrants, and Muslims. Your comments are hurting me, especially since I am an undocumented immigrant. I may not have been born here but this is still my home just like it is for many others who are not originally from here. I love the city of Boston and the people in it. I want to protect it. I don't have all the answers on how we can prevent this from happening here or the rest of the world. But I know the answer is not with hate, suspicion, or more violence." - Renata Teodoro, a young undocumented immigrant or DREAMer from Boston.
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Dream Action Coalition serves as a voice for undocumented youth and lobbying arm of the dream movement. Our work ensures that undocumented youth are represented in the halls of power and are correctly and directly informed of the actions of Congress, Executive Agencies, and the Courts.
