Residents call on Congress to pass clean Dream Act

<p>Long Island residents of various faiths and ethnic backgrounds joined together Sunday to call on Congress to pass a clean Dream Act.</p>

News 12 Staff

Nov 13, 2017, 3:17 AM

Updated 2,525 days ago

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Long Island residents of various faiths and ethnic backgrounds joined together Sunday to call on Congress to pass a clean Dream Act.
Time is running out for children of undocumented immigrants protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in September rescinding President Obama's 2012 order establishing DACA. It is set to expire in March, unless Congress takes action and make DACA law.
The group marched a mile to Rep. Peter King's Massapequa office, but King said he's on their side.
"Sometimes people like this don't know who their friends are. I have said specifically that I support DACA.  I'm supporting legislation on DACA," he said.
Protest organizer Anita Halasz says she would like King to go further and support a clean Dream Act.
"A clean Dream Act is piece of legislation that's not tied to any border enforcement measures.  We want to make sure we see a bill passed that will not continue to militarize and enforce immigration laws unjustly," he said.
King says there must be measures to protect the community from criminals and gangs like MS-13.
"I also believe in strong border security They can't be setting standards saying that we approve DACA and we don't have strong border security. It goes together," said King.
King also said that the final bill will be a compromise of a multiple proposals and that he hopes Congress will pass a DACA bill by the end of the year.