House Members Call on Obama to Pardon Dreamers

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL), Nov. 17, 2016- "Today, Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL) joined Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) in releasing a letter they wrote to President Obama asking him to use his pardon authority to protect DREAMers with DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).  “We urge you to exercise your Constitutional authority to provide pardons to DREAMers both retroactively and prospectively,” the three lawmakers wrote.  The full text of the letter is here: Ltr to President on DACA and Pardon Authority - 11-2016 FINAL.pdf

They were joined at a press conference in the Capitol by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA).

In his opening statement at the press conference, Rep. Gutiérrez said:

We are starting by calling on President Obama to provide relief while he is still in office for one particular group, DREAMers who came forward and registered with the government.  We are asking the President to pardon them for their undocumented status, which by definition happened when they were juveniles.  This would not give them a permanent safe place, but it is a start.  This group has already been vetted by the federal government.  They are more at risk because they registered and gave up their addresses and fingerprints.

Rep. Gutiérrez went on to say:

All we are asking is for the President to continue his commitment.  To continue seeing in these young American children the same hopes as he sees in his daughters.  To follow through on his promise to put them in a safe place where they can work hard and achieve everything they can achieve in life.

The text of the opening remarks at the press conference (as prepared for delivery) is below.

A video of the press conference is here (courtesy of the Democratic Caucus): https://youtu.be/aETbfQix82M?t=21m46s"