Paterson, NJ – On Saturday, December 2 at 1 pm ET at Oasis: A Haven for Women and Children, local elected officials, immigrant youth, and allies will gather to share their stories, discuss why the Dream Act is important for New Jersey, and paint a banner in support of Dreamers across the state to be delivered to Representative Frelinghuysen’s office. Attendees will also make calls to the offices Representative Frelinghuysen and Speaker Paul Ryan’s offices and urge them to pass the Dream Act by the end of the year.

WHO:

Mohamed Khairullah, Prospect Park Mayor

Juan Carlos Cinto, Community Organizer and Activist

Rutgers University Dreamers

WHEN: Saturday, December 2 at 1 pm ET

In New Jersey, there are over 22,000 DACA recipients whose futures and opportunities to fully contribute to their communities are threatened by President Trump’s decision to end the popular and successful DACA program. The Center for American Progress estimates that New Jersey has 61,000 Dream Act-eligible individuals in the workforce and would see annual state GDP gains of $799 million from passage of the Dream Act. And yet, despite all of the benefits that Dreamers provide to New Jersey, Representative Frelinghuysen has yet to co-sponsor the Dream Act.

This event comes as 22,000 Dreamers will now lose DACA because of the arbitrary October 2017 deadline created by the Trump administration for some Dreamers to renew their status. Every day that passes, 122 Dreamers are losing their status and becoming at risk of deportation. That is 851 per week between October 5, 2017 and March 5, 2018.

If Congress can’t pass the Dream Act, then it must be included in the bill that funds the government in December.

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