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Connecticut Governor Malloy Calls for Federal Action to Stop DREAM Student's Deportation

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 Governor Demonstrates True Leadership in Calling on Obama Administration to End Deportation of Talented Young Person

Earlier this week, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy (D) wrote to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requesting deferred action on behalf of DREAM-eligible student Mariano Cardoso, who is facing deportation despite living in the U.S. since he was a year old and being mere months away from graduating from college.  Gov. Malloy is courageously joining the growing chorus of voices asking Obama Administration officials to use existing authority to stop deporting talented young people who are Americans in all but paperwork. 

In a statement, Governor Malloy said, “Congress needs to address immigration reform in a comprehensive and commonsense manner, but until that happens, we cannot allow young men and women like Mariano, who, through no fault of their own, were brought here as children, lose this chance at a better life.  For all intents and purposes, Mariano is American. To send him back to a country he has no recollection of and did not grow up in makes little sense, particularly as he is finishing his degree and looking to contribute to his community and this state.”  Malloy’s call for deferred action comes on the heels of a letter sent to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano from 22 U.S. Senators calling for relief for young people like Mariano. 

Mariano and his community have been engaged in an intense campaign for over two months to plead with DHS to grant Mariano a deferral of his deportation.  There have been community rallies, tens of thousands of faxes sent to Secretary Napolitano, and Members of Congress have made requests on his behalf – yet DHS continues to try to deport Mariano to a country he doesn’t remember.  Mariano’s story illustrates the sharp contrast between rhetoric and reality when it comes to many DREAM youth.  On April 4, 2011, President Obama said, “We aren’t going around rounding up students, that is completely false.”  And in the President’s 2011 State of the Union Address, he said, “let’s stop expelling talented, responsible young people who can staff our research labs, start new businesses, and further enrich this nation.”  Still, Mariano and scores of others like him remain in deportation proceedings.

According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice Education Fund, “The federal solution to our immigration crisis that our nation needs and deserves is brought into sharp relief by Mariano’s case.  While Republicans blocked the DREAM Act from becoming law last year, President Obama has the power to suspend the deportations of talented young people until Congress can set aside politics and work in a bipartisan way on real immigration reform.  Twenty-two senators, Governor Malloy, and numerous other leaders are calling on the Administration to use its authority to end this nightmare for Mariano and other DREAMers.  It serves no one to remove Mariano and other like him from the only country they call home.”           

America’s Voice Education Fund — Harnessing the power of American voices and American values to win common sense immigration reform.

www.americasvoiceonline.org

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