Padilla Joins Kelly, Durbin, and Immigration Advocates to Speak on Why Threats to DACA, Dreamers Make Case for Legislative Fix

WASHINGTON D.C. -Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and lead author of the Dream Act, and Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), joined immigration experts and advocates at a press conference and spotlight forum to highlight examples and implications of the growing threats to Dreamers, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) processing delays and detention and deportation concerns.

At the press conference, speakers highlighted examples of DACA recipients being unable to work and live safely in the United States due to the Trump Administration's unjustified processing delays on their renewal applications, including a San Francisco-based DACA recipient who is at risk of losing her job. Held directly before the DACA spotlight forum, Padilla and his Democratic colleagues uplifted Dreamers' stories and called attention to the devastating impact of unnecessary processing delays. Padilla emphasized the importance of passing the Dream Act and the urgent need for a permanent legislative fix that creates a pathway to citizenship to support our Dreamers who significantly contribute to our communities and economy.

"We hear cases of both DACA participants, and Dreamers more broadly, being detained and deported. Many DACA recipients just simply waiting for what used to be, and should be, a routine renewal of their status," said Senator Padilla. "We've heard reports of the Justice Department's handpicked panel of judges saying that DACA protections, 'don't actually protect dreamers from deportation.' Why the change? This is the entire point of the DACA program - to recognize that young people who are contributing to our country and have no criminal record, who were brough here as children, should not be deported. They deserve protections."

"Since the beginning of this year, my office alone has seen an increase in requests for help from hundreds of people dealing with delays in getting their renewals and bureaucratic chaos. Let me tell you about one woman named Ariel - a nurse in San Francisco who has lived in the United States since she was just two years old," continued Padilla. "Ariel filed her renewal paperwork at the beginning of the year, 135 days before her expiration date. She followed every rule. She did everything she was supposed to do just like she always does, every two years like clockwork. But Ariel's DACA status expired in April, and to this day her renewal status still hasn't been processed. That's not her fault! Yet she's about to lose her job caring for sick people and the promotion she was working towards, because of the failures and cruelty of the Trump Administration. And here's the thing that they don't seem to understand in the gilded Oval Office: it's not just Dreamers who are hurting because of these actions. It's all of us."

Following the press conference, Padilla and his Democratic colleagues participated in a spotlight forum on protecting Dreamers, hosted by Senator Durbin, to further highlight the contributions of DACA recipients and Dreamers in our communities, the threats that the Trump Administration has inflicted on DACA recipients, and the importance of a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers.

Padilla discussed the impacts of wrongful detention and deportation exercised by the Trump Administration, highlighting testimony from Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez, a DACA recipient who was wrongfully detained at her green card interview and quickly deported, and who Padilla met with earlier this year. As countless stories of wrongful detention and deportation of DACA recipients under this Administration increase, Padilla emphasized the need for permanent protections and immigration reform.

"DACA is so much more than a work permit. It's a promise. A promise to young people […] who proudly contribute so much to their families, their communities, and their countries," said Senator Padilla. "A promise that if you come out of the shadows and you work hard and follow the rules, you will be protected. Because this is your home and you belong here. But tragically we've seen, in recent months, this administration doing everything they can to break that promise."

Padilla further discussed the administration's wrongful targeting of DACA recipients in its mass deportation campaign. In 2025, 261 DACA recipients were detained and at least 86 deported, despite having active DACA protections. DACA renewal processing times have skyrocketed; Padilla highlighted the growing number of Californians who have reached out to his office for assistance. Padilla emphasized the need for DACA and Dreamer protections from detention and deportation and criticized President Trump's cruel attempt to cease DACA application processing.

Padilla has long championed permanent protections for Dreamers and DACA recipients and has been a leading voice in Congress for providing long-term undocumented immigrants with pathways to citizenship. In 2025, Padilla joined U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Durbin in introducing the Dream Act of 2025 to provide permanent protections for Dreamers and DACA recipients. The legislation would allow noncitizens without lawful status who were brought to the United States as children and meet certain education, military service, or work requirements to earn lawful permanent residence and a pathway to citizenship. Padilla and his Democratic colleagues have joined immigration experts and advocates to renew their urgent call for the passage of the Dream Act to provide a permanent pathway to citizenship.

Earlier this year, Padilla and his Democratic colleagues demanded that former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow reduce the severe delays in processing DACA renewal applications. In February, Padilla, Durbin, and Senator Kelly blasted DHS for wrongfully targeting and removing DACA recipients in a joint statement. Padilla has called attention to the increased risk of detention and deportation faced by DACA recipients when their renewal applications are not processed before their status expires. He emphasized that these long-term residents - who were brought to the country as children - have been working, studying, and living legally in the United States since 2012 and are vital members of American communities.

Padilla's remarks at the press conference are available here.

Padilla's remarks at the spotlight forum are available here.

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