WASHINGTON, DC – DACA recipients on FWD.us’ staff issued the following statement today on the Biden-Harris Administration’s Day 1 Executive Actions on Immigration and the proposed U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021:

“We are encouraged that the Biden-Harris Administration is following through on their commitment to send meaningful immigration legislation to Congress that establishes a well-deserved pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented people like us and our families.

“The announcement of this bill is an important first step for our country, but we will continue to live with uncertainty until it is passed by Congress and signed into law. Courageous leadership is needed now more than ever. It is long past time that lawmakers stop treating DACA recipients and our families like pawns in a political game and work together, across party lines, to relieve the fear we have been experiencing for years in the country that we too call home.

“For far too long, members of our families – our parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents – have been left behind with empty promises from politicians and government agencies. Among those are more than five million undocumented essential workers who work every single day helping to save American lives during a deadly pandemic while under the constant threat of deportation. They deserve more than our praise – they deserve protection.

“The impact of today’s bill announcement is acutely felt by DACA recipients, our loved ones and our communities, who have long awaited legal protections and to be recognized fully as the Americans we are. We are important members of our communities. We deserve not only to be recognized as human beings with dignity, but to be afforded legal stability that begins with a well-deserved pathway to citizenship so that we can continue living the lives we have worked hard to build.

“Our country has an enormous opportunity to do right by millions of immigrants who have built their families and lives in the United States over many decades. The Biden-Harris Administration must prioritize rebuilding America’s immigration system so that it lives up to our nation’s promise as the ‘land of opportunity.’ This is the right thing to do, not only for immigrants and our families – but for all Americans.”