A group of immigrant students erupted during a press conference by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco. They demanded she takes action to protect all 11 million undocumented people in the United States, not just the DREAMers.
“I don’t want a DREAM Act that’s going to jeopardize my parents. It’s all or none. – Diana Campos (23-year-old student)”
Pelosi, the leader of the Democratic party in the House of Representatives, had planned to speak on the agreement she made with Donald Trump regarding the DREAMers. However, her speech did not reach its conclusion due to students loudly reminding her about the deportations during the Obama presidency.
The group of about 100 undocumented youth shouted “Democrats deport” and “all of us or none of us” before Pelosi tried to retake control of the room. She yelled out, “just stop it now” but failed to grasp the DREAMers’ attention, leaving shortly after.
Nancy Pelosi understands the fear that the young undocumented students currently face, and is working to secure their future. Despite not having a close relationship with the president, she’s not interested in having him like her, as much as she wants him to like the DREAMers.
Last week, Chuck Schumer – the Democratic leader in the Senate – and Pelosi got together with Trump to speak about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. After two meetings, Pelosi and Schumer announced they had come to an agreement with the White House that did not include funds for a border wall.
On the other hand, Republican leaders of Congress and the White House itself, say there’s no official agreement just yet. While Pelosi is exerting efforts from all fronts to have the DREAM Act approved, this is not enough for the undocumented youth of this country.
While DREAMers should be upset that the DREAM Act won’t protect their parents, their press room takeover may have been a poor way of displaying the dissatisfaction they feel. Sure, it garnered the media’s attention but portrayed them in a negative light.
Pelosi is on the side of the undocumented youth, and she’s doing everything she can, as fast as she can, to get this issue resolved. It’s tough enough to get Congress to agree on the DREAM Act, so it’s better to move one step at a time.
“The Democrats are the ones who stopped their assault on sanctuary cities, stopped the wall, the increased deportations in our last bill that was at the end of April, and we are determined to get Republican votes to pass the clean Dream Act.” – Nancy Pelosi