WATCH: Padilla Delivers Remarks to Commemorate DACA’s 14th Anniversary

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, delivered remarks on the Senate floor commemorating the 14th Anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Padilla emphasized DACA's legacy and called for permanent protections for DACA recipients and Dreamers.

In his remarks, Padilla recognized DACA recipients and Dreamers nationwide who have made important impacts on their communities but have simultaneously been impacted by the Trump Administration's ongoing efforts to undermine the DACA program by delaying or suspending processing renewals. Padilla shared stories from Californians who have been impacted by these renewal delays and called on Congress to modernize the U.S. immigration system to support Dreamers and DACA recipients who deserve the opportunity to thrive in our country.

"Fourteen years ago, the United States government made that promise that if they came forward, passed the background check, followed the rules, did everything that we asked of them, that they could stay here and pursue their dreams in the country, the only country that they have ever known, and hundreds of thousands of brave young people did exactly that," said Senator Padilla. "To be clear, DACA was never intended to be a permanent solution. It was meant to be a temporary stop gap until Congress took action by passing the Dream Act, or ideally modernizing our immigration system as a whole. Yet here we are, 14 years later, still having the same debate about these young people and their future, because while the hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients kept their promise, they did their part. Congress has repeatedly failed to do ours. And now these individuals who were young children back then when this program began, are now adults with careers and families of their own. They're even more deeply ingrained in our communities and our country than they were 14 years ago."

Prior to taking the Senate floor, Padilla attended a "Home Is Here" rally where impacted communities, labor leaders, and immigration advocates raised concerns regarding the Administration's efforts to strip protections from millions of people by eroding programs like DACA, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and more, emphasizing its far-reaching consequences on workers, employers, families, and our country's economy. Padilla advocated for permanent solutions for Dreamers and DACA recipients, highlighting the Dream Act.

In 2025, Padilla joined Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) 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 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. Last month, Padilla joined Durbin, Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and immigration experts and advocates at a spotlight forum to highlight examples and implications of the growing threats to DACA recipients, including renewal processing delays and detention and deportation concerns. Last week, Padilla and Durbin led their Democratic colleagues in in objecting to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)'s recent decision to weaken legal protections for DACA recipients. 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. Last year, Padilla introduced the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929to expand a pathway to lawful permanent residency for millions of long-term U.S. residents. This legislation would update the existing Registry statute to expand a pathway to lawful permanent residency for millions of immigrants, including children of long-term visa holders.

Video of Padilla's floor remarks is available here.

Transcript of Padilla's floor remarks is available below:

Mr. President, I'm honored to join my colleagues here today, and appreciate Senator Durbin's leadership in bringing us all together. Because today is truly an important day for hundreds of 1000s of men, women, and children across America.

It was 14 years ago today that President Obama took action to memorialize an important truth that young people who were brought to the United States as young children - through no choice of their own - who have grown up in our communities, who have attended our local schools, many graduating at the top of their class from high school as valedictorians, and who know no other home but the United States. That they deserve an opportunity to continue to be part of this country, free of the fear of being deported for a decision they had no say in.

14 years ago, the United States government made that promise that if they came forward, passed the background check, followed the rules, did everything that we asked of them, that they could stay here and pursue their dreams in the country, the only country that they have ever known, and hundreds of 1000s of brave young people did exactly that.

To be clear, DACA was never intended to be a permanent solution. It was meant to be a temporary stop gap until Congress took action by passing the Dream Act, or ideally modernizing our immigration system as a whole. Yet here we are, 14 years later, still having the same debate about these young people and their future, because while the hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients kept their promise, they did their part. Congress has repeatedly failed to do ours. And now these individuals who were young children back then when this program began, are now adults with careers and families of their own. They're even more deeply ingrained in our communities and our country than they were 14 years ago.

There's over four, excuse me, there are over 530,000 people enrolled in DACA today, somewhere between 140,000 or 150,000 of them in my home state of California alone. Mr. President, listen to this. The average DACA recipient is 33 years old now. The average DACA recipient has lived in United States for 27 years, they're not recent arrivals, they're our friends and neighbors, our family members, our loved ones. They've grown up to be teachers and nurses, caregivers, lawyers, small business owners. We'd call them model citizens if we would allow them to become citizens, but they're models, nonetheless. 87% of them are gainfully employed and collectively they contribute $17 billion to the American economy. Mean. That ought to be celebrated, not shunned for political purposes. About one in three are married, and roughly 240,000 United States citizen children live with at least one parent who is the DACA recipient. They are among the people being targeted now by an Administration claiming to be only going after the worst of the worst. Not only are they being swept up in the Trump Administration's mass deportation campaign, many are now facing extraordinary months long delays when trying to renew their DACA and work authorization. Delays are having real impacts with real consequences as this Administration seemingly tries to undermine this program.

On this anniversary of the DACA program, I want to share a couple of stories of DACA recipients in my home state. 20-five year old Maria Fernanda Hernandez has been a DACA recipient since she was 15 years old. Thanks to DACA, Maria was able to attend college, earn a bachelor's degree in psychology, and find a full-time job as a project manager at a market research company, but Maria recently had to take a leave from her job, as many others, because even though she submitted her application on time back in January, it still hasn't even been reviewed by USCIS nearly six months later, and in the months that she's been forced to wait, Maria's DACA and the work permit that went along with it expired. If that wasn't bad enough, her father's been battling a number of health issues over the last year. He spent months in the hospital, and at one point had to have his legs amputated.

I mention this because Maria was doing as much as she possibly could to help support her parents financially during all of this, but now with her renewal stuck in limbo, Maria can no longer work or help her parents at a time that they need her the most.

Teresa, another DACA recipient, who came to this country as a very young child. Teresa worked hard, got a good education, and built an impressive career, not just as a nurse, as an award-winning nurse at one of Los Angeles County's largest hospitals, and like Maria, and so many others, Denisa filed her renewal application on time. Yet months later, despite repeated outreach to USCIS, she still hasn't received any updates, and because of those delays, Teresa's work authorization has expired, and she's facing the possibility of losing the career she worked so hard to build, because she's not able to provide her employer the necessary documents to keep working. That's what these cruel delays have caused.

Jose Morales Perez is 32 years old. He's lived in Los Angeles most of his life, ever since coming from Tijuana as a young child. He attended local schools, eventually graduating from Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, and later attending Glendale Community College. Paul says built a life here. He's worked a steady job. He started a family. He helped care for his mother, whose diabetes complications have left her unable to walk. Jose was up for a promotion at work earlier this year, and instead of celebrating that promotion he's lost his job when his DACA expired while waiting for the Administration to process his renewal application and now his family is struggling to make ends meet. To the point where they're now pawning family heirlooms just for a little bit more cash to continue to scrape by.

Maria, Teresa, Jose, these and thousands of others just like, are the people that we're talking about when we discuss and debate DACA. People who followed the rules, did everything that we asked of them. The only choice that they ever made was to trust the United States government. When the government made them the promise that if they came forward, that they would not be punished for doing the right thing, and that promise is being broken today by the Trump Administration. These men and women that I'm talking about, not just the three that I mentioned, all of them deserve better. They deserve certainty. They, and all dreamers like them, deserve the opportunity to continue contributing to their communities and to our country. They deserve the chance to become full-fledged members of this country, their country, our country, the only country that they've ever known that they've given so much of their talent and so much of their leadership to each and every day.

Colleagues, 14 years after the creation of DACA, it is past time that we finally do what is right by the hundreds of 1000s of DACA recipients and Dreamers who have already proven their commitment to this country. They kept their promise and now it is time for Congress to keep ours it is finally time to pass the Dream Act. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield.

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