Last weekend, children and advocates came together in Columbus, Ohio to draw pictures and write letters to Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) asking him to support a clean Dream Act.
“When you picture a wolf’s den, what does it look like?” wrote Aravah, 10 years old. “Probably a bunch of pups…what you DON’T picture is one wolf, just lying there, lonely and sad. This is what you would do to people if you made them leave their family.”
“Can you please stop tearing apart families by sending parents back to their countries and leaving their children without their families?” asked Mannat, also 10 years old. “You are ready to spend the holidays with your family and having fun, meanwhile kids that don’t have their families are in depression and sad.”
Portman has never taken a strong stance on the Dream Act. In September of this year, he released a statement expressing agreement that “Congress should act” and that there should be “bipartisan efforts to find a permanent solution that will allow those in the DACA program to stay.” Ohio advocates have been pushing him to be more supportive of a clean Dream Act, which would allow young immigrants to continue to live and work in the US without the punitive border security, enforcement, and detention measures that some Republicans think should be attached to Dreamer legislation. Advocates also want Portman to be a champion for getting such a bill across the finish line.
The children’s letters will be delivered to Sen. Portman’s office in the coming days. The project is part of Sanctuary Homes and the We Belong Together’s Dream for the Holidays #10Days100Letters campaign, which will send letters to Republican members of Congress across the country.
View photos of the letters, below:
