After the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against the Trump administration’s “arbitrary and capricious” attempt to rescind DACA, DNC Chair Tom Perez, Biden for President Senior Advisory Julie Rodriguez, DNC Member and Dreamer Ellie Perez, Representative Ruben Gallego (AZ-07), Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Representative Filemon Vela (TX-34) held a press call to discuss the continued fight for Dreamers.

Here’s some of what they said:

DNC Chair Tom Perez

“Lady Liberty stands very tall today. This is a remarkable victory. A victory of humanity over hatred, a victory of American values over Donald Trump’s immigrant-bashing scare tactics. This decision affirms what America should be: a land of freedom and opportunity, where those searching for a better life are welcomed with open arms, not forced into the shadows. That’s the America my parents believed in when they came to this country from the Dominican Republic, fleeing the iron-fist of a brutal dictator. That’s the America we’re fighting for every single day as Democrats. This decision is for all those teachers who are Dreamers, first responders who are Dreamers, members of our armed forces who are Dreamers, people on the front lines of COVID-19 who are Dreamers. We need your help, we need your continued contributions, and we welcome you. Make no mistake about it. This is a huge victory, but it’s a temporary victory. The Court ruled that the administration can terminate DACA if it follows the appropriate procedure. In other words, to be very clear, if Donald Trump wins in November, he will end DACA. For every voter who cares about Dreamers, please understand this: the future of Dreamers depends 100% on the outcome of the November election.”

Biden for President Senior Advisor Julie Rodriguez

“Over the past 8 years,  hundreds of thousands of dreamers and DACAmented individuals, and you’ll hear from one today, have been working in our communities, showing leadership. Over 200,000 of them are responding currently to the COVID crisis in our country. They are doctors; they are lawyers; they are engineers, they are teachers; they are first responders; they are people who are doing tremendous work throughout our communities.  So, today’s victory is huge, but we have to remember how today’s victory happened. It happened because of the organizing, the resilience, and commitment of these young people, of young DACAmented folks standing up and ensuring that as a country we recognize their contributions. […] Today’s victory is a very sweet one, but we will continue to organize, mobilize and march toward the ballot box this November. We look forward to doing that in concert with all of our brothers and sisters that are fighting hard for and with the immigrant community.  

DNC Member and Dreamer Ellie Perez

 “To the Dreamers around the country, share your stories. Tell the world who you are. Let your employer know who you are because you are valued, you add value to those companies and those companies understand that you are a part of what makes America great. […] I can’t think of another place where an undocumented mother with three young girls who didn’t speak English could have built a life. I can’t think of another place where an undocumented student who grew up in Sunny Slope, Arizona could have graduated college, could have helped purchased a home for her family, could have helped elect amazing leaders in her state. I can’t think of another place where that is possible, and I can’t think of another place where we are able to take to the streets to fight for our fellow Americans. You want to talk about American values and you want to talk about what it is to be an American, this is it. We have the audacity to fight because America has taught us how to fight and we are going to continue fighting and I will do everything in my power to make sure that we elect a President that is going to fight for my mom, that’s going to fight for other Dreamers, and that’s going to fight for generations to come.” 

Representative Ruben Gallego (AZ-07) 

“Dreamers are essential, and they are wanted in this country. That’s the message that should be heard right now. But that can all go away. Let’s be clear. What we saw today was the Supreme Court slap the president’s hand and said, ‘you did it the wrong way, but here’s the way you can do it.’ Let’s be clear, this president will try to do it that way.  I know, and many of us in Congress know because we saw that exactly happening when Trump first got elected. When Trump first got elected, chief of staff Kelly came and basically said in order for us to save Dreamers that we had to find a compromise with Steve King and Tom Cotton somehow and a $25 billion border wall and cut legal immigration into this country that had been the basis of our legal immigration system for decades. We knew that that would never happen. We could not compromise on those grounds. We knew exactly what they were doing. They were essentially using our Dreamers as hostages, not as the brothers and sisters that we know, the family, the business owners that we know, the doctors now, the nurses, the teachers, the organizers that we know. They were essentially using them as human hostages for them to basically push their extreme immigrant agenda.”

Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07)

“Today, once again, we say Dreamers are American. Dreamers are home. Dreamers are us. And today’s Supreme Court ruling is just an affirmation of that. And I want to be clear, it is not only an historic for more than 800,000 eligible Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals but actually for all of America. For all of us who benefit every day from the incredible, irreplaceable contributions that Dreamers make to our communities. As DACA recipients are our family members, our friends, our coworkers, teachers, service members, and neighbors. And let’s not forget that during COVID-19 more than 200,000 DACA recipients are serving on the front lines. So for all of us who believe in the humane and moral treatment of immigrants, a vision the Democrats have been on the right side of, a vision that has been crushed by a cruel, xenopohbic Trump administration, again, this is an affirmation and a victory for the ideal of an America inscribed in the statue of liberty, the beacon of hope for many around the world.” 

Representative Filemon Vela (TX-34) 

“Our pathway to making this permanent, our pathway to comprehensive immigration reform, our pathway to making sure that the 3,000 migrants that are about one mile from where I sit here today, living in squalor through COVID-19 get their justice through our asylum process is all about winning the presidency and all about taking the Senate. […] “I think the people out here are motivated and beyond the immigration debate. When you take a look at this administration’s response to COVID, when you can think of that scene where innocent American citizens exercising their first amendment right right in front of the White House are being pushed back by law enforcement and National Guardsmen with shields, it was such a distressing image, that’s having an impact on the overall electorate.”