Seven DREAMers and one ally got arrested on Friday after a sit-in at the office of Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer. Among the DREAMers, who are going on their fifth day of a hunger strike, is a former Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign staffer, Erika Andiola.
The DREAMers are determined to continue with their hunger strike until getting a vote on a clean DREAM Act. They’re trying to push for a vote on December 22nd when lawmakers must pass a new spending bill to prevent a government shutdown.
According to Andiola’s Twitter account, she, along with other six DREAMers and one ally, will remain in jail in Washington D.C. until at least Tuesday. Upon their arrival in court, the government requested a hold “in response to their noncooperation.”
Andiola was Sanders’ press secretary for Hispanic media. She is a native of Mexico and tweeted about the DREAMers’ rejection to collaborate with the law enforcement.
The attorneys did not oppose the hold. The group also believes that ICE has got contacted about Andiola. Thus she is at risk of deportation. DACA advocate, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, told The Houston Chronicle he doesn’t think the Republicans will consider DACA legislation until the New Year.
“We’re trying to put as much leverage on Republicans as we can, but they are saying early next year. I was hoping we could do it by the end of the year, and maybe a miracle will happen, but I don’t see it right now,” Cuellar said.
Trump officially annulled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in September, ending the 2012 law started by former President Barack Obama to allow 800,000 young immigrants to work in the United States.
Three of the seven DREAMers got released from jail, but four remain at risk of deportation and on hunger strike.
This article was inspired by Bustle // Dreamers Are On A Hunger Strike Until Congress Proves It’s On Their Side & You Need To Know About It