INSTITUTE INDEX: The eleventh-hour push to save Dreamers from deportation
A Dec. 6 candlelight vigil in Raleigh, North Carolina, was part of this week's national effort to demand a legislative solution to the looming threat of deportation of young people brought to the this country as children. (Photo by Rebekah Barber/Facing South.)
Number of people who rallied this week in Washington and cities nationwide to call on Congress to pass a Dream Act as a solution to the Trump administration's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program: more than 4,000
Number of local U.S. House and Senate offices where sit-ins were held calling for passage of what's known as a "clean" Dream Act, free from provisions that harm immigrant communities: 30
Number of people arrested during the nonviolent protests: more than 180
Number of young people brought to the U.S. as children who are at risk of deportation if Congress does not act soon: 800,000
Percent of those young people who live in the 13 Southern states*: 31
If no legislative solution is found, month in which deportations could begin for those known as the "Dreamers": 3/2018
Number of moderate House Republicans who signed a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan this week urging Congress to act "immediately" while a bipartisan group of U.S. senators also worked to craft a deal: 34
Number of other Republican lawmakers that Rep. Scott Taylor of Virginia said would vote for a Dream Act deal but could not sign the letter for various reasons: "numerous"
Number of former federal officials from both Democratic and Republican administrations who signed another letter to congressional leadership calling for a Dream Act: more than 200
Percent of Americans who want all Dreamers to be deported: 19
Percent who want to allow Dreamers to stay in the U.S. legally: 60
Date when House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Democrats would not leave town or cooperate with Republicans on critical year-end legislation without action to fix DACA: 12/7/2017
Date on which U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a Republican who represents South Florida, said he would join Democrats in refusing to vote for government funding without a DACA deal: 11/28/2017
Date on which Congress passed a temporary funding bill, pushing the next threat of a shutdown and a possible showdown over Dreamers to the Friday before Christmas: 12/7/2017
* Facing South defines the region as encompassing Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
(Click on figure to go to source.)
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Sue Sturgis
Sue is the former editorial director of Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies.