(PartiallyPolitics.com) – On Tuesday, two Senate Democrats filed a bill that would enable beneficiaries of humanitarian immigration programs to work in Congress.
The American Dream Employment Act, was introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and it meant to allow holders of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to gain employment in the Capitol. Cortez Masto pointed out that the government needed to be as diverse as possible in order to represent all of the different parts of their community. She continued by saying that this legislation would give both Dreamers and TPS holders a “voice” in the government by allowing them to have a direct impact on the laws being created. Laws which as she pointed out also affect their families.
Currently, beneficiaries of these two programs are allowed to live and work in the United States but they are not allowed to work for the federal government or in Congress. The only exceptions to these are for unpaid interns and those working through contractors.
Durbin in his own statement said that he had met hundreds of Dreamers who were serving “their communities as teachers, nurses, engineers, civil rights advocates, and more.” He added that it does not make any sense to not allow Congress access to this talent pool.
The Congressional Hispanic Staff Association (CHSA) also supports this legislation.
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