House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came to the Lower East Side yesterday to publicize a new proposal to protect “Dreamers” and offer them a path to citizenship. At the Tenement Museum, she was joined by Mayor de Blasio and U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez.
Velazquez and two House colleagues last week introduced “The American Dream and Promise Act,” which would offer permanent legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants who came to this country as children. It would also permit DREAMers to apply for citizenship.
“Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity we are a nation forever young,” Pelosi said. “If we ever close the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would be lost.”
A previous version of the legislation died in the Senate. While the new bill is likely to sail through the Democrat-controlled House, it is expected to be opposed once again by Republicans in the Senate and by Donald Trump.
Velazquez represents portions of the Lower East Side and Chinatown.
