Last Friday, Iowa Dreamers, community leaders, and allies gathered outside the Des Moines federal building to tell their members of Congress to support the Dream Act and TPS. The building is home to the offices of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Rep. David Young (R-IA). Read more about Iowa’s Dreamers here.
The event was organized by Des Moines Public School student and poet Jocelyn Rifas, DACA beneficiary Hugo Bolaños, La Fuerza Latina leader Carolina Ramos, and DACA beneficiary Kenia Calderon.
At the event, advocates presented staff with a banner from Dreamers and TPS holders across the state. They shared their immigration stories and discussed the benefits of both the Dream Act and TPS to Iowa. Some 2,000 DACA recipients live in Iowa, and it is estimated that DACA recipients and Dream Act-eligible individuals would contribute $89 million to the state if the Dream Act were passed. Yet none of Iowa’s Republican members of Congress have expressed support for the Dream Act.
Every day, 122 Dreamers are losing their DACA status and becoming at risk of deportation. Eventually, all 800,000 Dreamers — young, working people who have lived in the US for most of their lives — will be forced back into the shadows and face deportation unless Congress passes the Dream Act this year.
View photos from the event in Iowa today below:
Iowans support and urge Congress to pass a clean #DreamActNOW and #SaveTPS #HereToStay pic.twitter.com/JZuYEyWBjR
— Kenia (@KeniaCeron) December 1, 2017
Iowans met with @ChuckGrassley and @SenJoniErnst staffers in Des Moines to ask them to pass a #cleanDreamAct and #Save TPS pic.twitter.com/czAtSWkXtH
— Kenia (@KeniaCeron) December 1, 2017
IOWA wants the #DreamActNOW. So do we. https://t.co/XCdn7UP802
— Carlos Paz Jr (@CPazJr) December 1, 2017
