Yesterday President Biden announced important new immigration actions to help bring relief and stability to American families. Some of them build on the DACA program Joe and I announced in 2012, which helped lift the shadow of deportation for hundreds of thousands of Dreamers brought to this country as children. But as I said back then, the DACA program did not provide Dreamers with permanent status or a pathway to citizenship, which is why I called on Congress to pass legislation that would permanently resolve their status.
Twelve years later, most DACA recipients are adults who are contributing to their communities and raising families of their own. Yesterday's announcement will make it easier for young people educated in this country, including some Dreamers, to access work visas, which would give them more stability, and in some cases, a path to permanent status. As Joe notes here, we are a better and stronger nation because of these young people — and this is the right thing to do.