Washington, D.C. — In response to reports that Osman Enriquez, a former DACA recipient who was waiting to reapply, was detained by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) Monday morning after a traffic stop by state police, Tom Jawetz, vice president of Immigration Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
While the Trump administration and Republican leadership in Congress continue to lie about the fact that Congress has until March to provide a permanent protection for Dreamers, more than 12,000 DACA recipients already have lost protection. Today we learned that at least one of them—who lost protection not only because of government cruelty but also government ineptitude—has been detained and is being processed for deportation.
The time for rhetoric is over. Congress must pass the Dream Act before the end of the year, and Osman Enriquez must be released today so that he doesn’t spend another night apart from his wife and infant child.
Related resources:
- “Thousands of DACA Recipients Are Already Losing Their Protection From Deportation” by Tom Jawetz and Nicole Prchal Svajlenka
- “The Economic Benefits of Passing the Dream Act” by Francesc Ortega, Ryan Edwards, and Philip E. Wolgin
- “The State-by-State Economic Benefits of Passing the Dream Act” by Ryan D. Edwards, Francesc Ortega, and Philip E. Wolgin
- “Interactive Map: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Populations and their Economic Contributions by U.S. Congressional District” by Center for American Progress and USC Dornsife Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (USC Dornsife)
- “A New Threat to DACA Could Cost States Billions of Dollars” by Nicole Prchal Svajlenka, Tom Jawetz, and Angie Bautista-Chavez
- “DACA Recipients’ Economic and Educational Gains Continue to Grow” by Tom K. Wong, Greisa Martinez Rosas, Adam Luna, Henry Manning, Adrian Reyes, Patrick O’Shea, Tom Jawetz, and Philip E. Wolgin
- “The Impact of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program Repeal on Jobs” by the Center for American Progress and FWD.us (FWD.us)
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, please contact Rafael J. Medina at [email protected] or 202.748.5313.