DREAMERS and activists with the Florida Immigrant Coalition gathered outside Senator Bill Nelson’s office in Coral Gables on Thursday demanding him to vote no on a spending bill that doesn't include a clean DREAM act.
“A clean DREAM act would basically give a pathway to citizenship to undocumented youth. And it would not include more enforcement or a wall [or] more criminalization for our communities,” said Paola Muñoz, a community organizer for the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
Thursday night the House approved a stopgap spending bill to avoid a federal government shutdown. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Carlos Curbelo, Frederica Wilson, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz voted against the bill because it did not include any resolution for the DREAMERS. Representative Mario Diaz-Balart voted for it.
. @SpeakerRyan & @GOPLeader, this fight is not going away. I am not going away. Our colleagues who also took a stand for the #DACADreamers are not going away, and the hundreds of thousands of #Dreamers and the millions of Americans who support a #DACA fix are not going away. https://t.co/pF1ExEjnaR— Rep. Carlos Curbelo (@RepCurbelo) January 19, 2018
We must find common ground on #DACA. Now is not the time for political games. The continuing resolution allows us to continue negotiating this important issue. We can't do that if the government is shut down. https://t.co/kFhnATUNOc— Mario Diaz-Balart (@MarioDB) January 18, 2018
“I am a mother, I work, and I am currently going to school,” said Maria Angelica Ramirez, 30, a DREAMER who currently goes to Florida International University. She came to the United States from Colombia 16 years ago. “I honestly feel hopeful but I feel that this hope is not something that can be sustained alone. We need to be doing everything that we can to let politicians know that we are on top of this issue, and, you know, we deserve dignity,” she said.
Senator Bill Nelson is still undecided and Senator Marco Rubio is sure to vote for it. The Senate is set to vote on a spending bill Friday by midnight or the government will shut down.
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