California Democrats Help Reintroduce Bill to Give ‘Dreamers’ a Path to Citizenship

California Democrats were among 201 members of Congress to reintroduce a bill on Wednesday that would provide a path to citizenship for an estimated 2.7 million undocumented immigrants — most of them so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the U.S. as children.

The American Dream and Promise Act would also offer that path to roughly 400,000 people with Temporary Protected Status who have been in the U.S. since 2017. The bill would exclude TPS holders who arrived more recently.

At a press conference on Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D–Redlands) said the successes of the 800,000 Dreamers who have been able to work legally under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are evidence that immigrants who’ve come of age in the U.S. deserve the security of becoming fully American.

“They’re our friends, our neighbors. They’re teachers, doctors, nurses, essential workers, business owners, service members in our military and much more,” said Aguilar, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus. “They pay taxes, some of them own homes. And they have contributed $108 billion in our local economy. And yet, these are the same individuals who live in fear.”

There is overwhelming public support for establishing a path to citizenship for people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, but despite bipartisan backing, several versions of such a bill have failed to become law over the last two decades since the original Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act was introduced in 2001.

A July 2024 Gallup poll found that 55% of Americans wanted to curb immigration overall, a sharp increase from the year before. But the same poll showed that 70% favored allowing immigrants who entered the country illegally a chance to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements over a period of time — and that figure jumped to 81% for those who were brought as children.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D–Texas), who introduced the current bill, said she anticipated being questioned about why she would do so when President Donald Trump and Republicans have been attacking immigrants as threats to the country and vowing mass deportations.

“Well, why not now? Now is the time to double down,” she said, adding that Trump is on record saying he supports Dreamers. “So Congress must act now and deliver this bill to the president’s desk.”

In a December interview with NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, Trump said he wanted to allow Dreamers to stay in the U.S.

“We have to do something about the Dreamers because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age,” he told Welker. “I want to be able to work something out. … I think we can work with the Democrats and work something out.”

The bill currently has 201 cosponsors, comprising the vast majority of House Democrats — including the San Francisco Bay Area’s delegation — plus one Republican, Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar.

In 2023, the same bill had four Republican cosponsors, but Republican leadership didn’t allow the bill to go to a vote. In 2021, the bill passed the House 228 to 197, with nine Republicans voting for it, including one Californian, Central Valley Rep. David Valadao.

Valadao’s office did not respond to a request for comment by press time on whether he currently supports the bill.

The current bill would create a “conditional permanent resident” status for eligible Dreamers who have not been convicted of certain crimes. While they have that, they would need to show they’ve completed at least two years of higher education or military service or have worked for at least three years. From there, they could obtain a green card as lawful permanent residents, which would make them eligible to apply for citizenship after five years.

The bill would also cover TPS holders who can show they’ve been continuously in the country for three years and were eligible for or had TPS in 2017 and meet other requirements.

At the press conference for the bill outside the Capitol building, Orange County Rep. Lou Correa said he believes his district has more Dreamers than any other.

“Let me tell you who they are,” he said. “The local police department has police officers that are Dreamers. Does it make sense to deport them? Absolutely not.”

As supporters of the bill chanted “Si, se puede,” Garcia told the crowd that Dreamers should not be penalized for being in the country without lawful status because they came as children.

“Like any other child, they lived where their parents told them to live. Many of them were just 6 years old. Six-year-old children do not violate laws,” she said. “If an adult is pulled over for speeding, we don’t turn around and give the adult a ticket and then give a ticket to the child in the back seat. Doesn’t work that way.”

The bill is likely to be referred to the immigration subcommittee in the House Judiciary Committee. The subcommittee’s chair is California Rep. Tom McClintock, a Republican who voted against the bill in 2021. His office did not respond by press time as to whether he would allow the bill to go to a vote.