WASHINGTON – DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz issued the following statement on the fourth anniversary of DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals process, to allow DREAMers to study, work in, and contribute to the communities they grew up in:

“Four years ago today, the Department of Homeland Security in President Obama’s Administration announced a process to allow DREAMers to study, pay taxes, and contribute to the communities they grew up in. For the first time in their lives, hundreds of thousands of young people who were brought into our country through no fault of their own – many of them children who never called any other nation home – could pursue their dreams unfettered by the threat of deportation. By giving that peace of mind to these young people, who are Americans in every imaginable way except on paper, President Obama sent a clear message: we have been, we are, and we always will be a nation of immigrants. To date, more than 728,000 hard-working young people have benefited from DACA. They carry with them all the ambition, drive, talent and dreams that so many young immigrants before them brought to our borders. As a Party, Democrats couldn’t be prouder of the many accomplishments so many of them have already made. Secure in the President’s promise that they can live dignified lives as full participants in our society, these individuals have been able to unleash their full potential, adding billions of dollars to our economy.

“However, as President Obama himself has acknowledged, DACA is only a temporary fix. We still need a permanent solution. That's why Democrats and a majority of the American people agree that Congress should do their jobs and fix our broken immigration system once and for all. After their electoral losses in 2012, the Republican Party agreed, and published an autopsy report that said their candidates and leaders would be wise to embrace immigrants and immigration reform in future elections. Instead, in Donald Trump they’ve nominated a dangerous and divisive candidate who wants to end DACA and deport all undocumented immigrants regardless of their circumstances or contributions to our country. Today’s anniversary is one more reminder of just how much is at stake in November, and why we must elect a Democrat as our 45th president.”