A proclamation recognizing the importance of DACA and Dreamers to Denver, Colorado, and the United States.
All right. Thank you. Thank you for coming through. All right. We have one less proclamation. Typically, we only do have a limit of three. But we thought this is important and timely. So, Councilwoman Black, please read the proclamation. Thank you, Mr. President. This one is very short and to the point. Proclamation number 17 dash 1011. Recognizing the importance of DOCA and Dreamers to Denver, Colorado and the United States. WHEREAS Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DOCA has allowed more than 17,000 young Coloradans who have lived in the United States since their childhood to live, go to school and work legally in the country. And. Whereas, nearly 800,000 young people across the nation are better able to contribute to their families and communities because of the protections instituted through DOCA. And. Whereas, ending DOCA will cost Colorado more than 856.9 million in annual GDP losses and will remove an estimated 685,000 workers from the United States workforce, resulting in a loss of 460.3 billion from the national GDP over the next decade. And. Whereas, our Senators, Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner have agreed to be co-sponsors of the bipartisan DREAM Act that would provide certainty for law abiding Dreamers. And. WHEREAS, 78% of American voters support giving Dreamers a legitimate pathway to citizenship and permanent, permanent residence in the country. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Council of the City and County of Denver, Section one, that the Denver City Council calls on Congress to use the next six months to craft a bill that reflects the desires of the majority of American people by providing a permanent, positive solution to the status of Dreamers. Individuals who are brought to this country as children have grown up in America and are contributing members to our society. Section two that the Clerk of the city and County of Denver shall attest and affix the seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation. Your motion to adopt. I move the proclamation. 1011 be adopted. It has been moved in. Second comments. Councilwoman Black This proclamation is probably the easiest one I've ever done and probably got the most enthusiastic support from this council. There's no doubt in my mind or anyone up here that these young people, these dreamers who go to school, work, pay taxes to serve in our military and contribute to our country, should absolutely get legal status . I'm happy to emphatically proclaim that to our national leaders, including our senators, Congress and executive. Now is the time for our national government to do the right thing and pass substantive legislation providing a realistic path to citizenship for our Dreamers. Thank you, Councilwoman Black. Councilman Kathryn. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilman Black, for bringing this forward. I was honored earlier last winter to help Councilwoman Gilmore craft a resolution in support of our immigrant refugee community, which was supported unanimously by this council. And now, once again, the need has come forth for this council to state its disagreement with the policies coming from Washington in this area of of guidance and state our support for those in our city that generally are unable to speak loudly enough for themselves. I agree wholeheartedly that we need legislation, this executive policy, Dacca needs to be firmly entrenched in legislation and we need to craft a path to citizenship for those in our country who are not so documented. But I really don't think that there was a need to threaten the security of thousands and thousands of our young people in order to encourage Congress to act in a more permanent direction. So thank you again for bringing this forward. And I'd like to just take a quick second. And I have a group of students here from South High School. Esmeralda, Beltran, Chavez and several of her student allies. If you all would stand up and be recognized. Thank you for coming, troops. And as we will be having an opportunity to speak to you in just a minute, and I will guarantee you it takes this out of a as he story takes this out of a matter of policy to a simple matter of human rights. So thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilman Cashman, and welcome. South High. This is your this is your house. You're always welcome here. Don't be bothered by the man in the back, John Zogby, on. He's just encouraging you on. All right, Councilman Espinosa, firstly, I just wanted to add my name to the proclamation and then just quite simply say another message to to to my state representative, who I spoke about last week, Cory Gardner and Michael Bennett. This is low hanging fruit. If you guys cannot come together and get this thing right in six months, you have no business being in office. I'm sorry. So I just want to implore Congress to do the right thing and and address this measure. Because if you're putting yourselves over the thousands of lives that are being affected by this, then you're not representing the people of this country. Thanks. All right. Thank you, Councilman Espinosa. Councilman Lopez. Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to thank you, Councilman Black, for for presenting this proclamation here in front of us. I know this is a unanimous vote, and it's because it's a no brainer. And it doesn't just happen on the federal level, happens on the state level. It did and it will happen on the local level. We have every single one of us, whether we're elected or not, has the the duty to stand for another person, to stand up for the rights of another person, and especially our young people who are criminalized. I stand unequivocally with our dreamers in this city and throughout our country. You know, I think it's a an immoral and unconscionable decision that was made by President Trump, by folks who could not pass the DREAM Act. But 20 years ago, the folks who could not continue to pass it, as are Dreamers, are now adults. And just a little bit of data on on those. According to that, there was a poll that was done well, not just a poll, but there was a source with DHS, the Department of Homeland Security's numbers, the University of California survey, political survey, and also that was reported in USA Today that the average age of and here's a little bit of characteristics of who these dreamers are, right? 787,580, to be exact. And in Denver, we have our share. In this day. We have our share. Average age is about 25 years old. Right. 97 are employed or in school. 97%. 91% have a job. 45% of those dreamers are in high school or college. Less than point less than 0.5% were in violation of their agreement of their of their status and or were deported. So a lot of folks that are out there that try to scare you and say that they say otherwise, it's just absolutely not true. And 78% of Americans believe that doc recipients should stay in this country, should have that path forward, and not to be a second class citizen. Let me just make this clear. It's one thing to be to have status. It's another when you have status without a pathway to citizenship. And so as we ask for that and as we as we tell our representatives how we act, when we act, each and every single one of us, we cannot just say, okay, we want a bill that allows folks to stay. We want a bill that allows folks to be citizens to have a pathway to citizenship without having to go to the military and dodge bullets in order to do it. Right. We have to have that path to citizenship. So as we look at at this DREAM Act, as we look at this new legislation, should it come, it's not for a second class status. It is for citizenship. Right. So with that, I just I just wanted to thank you, Councilwoman, for bringing this proclamation forward and L.A.. Thank you. Thank you for being here. And thank you for having the backs of our students student center in our country, no matter what language they speak and no matter where they're from. Thank you, Councilman Lopez. Councilman Flynn. Thank you, Mr. President. For the least. The last 25 years. It has been the failure of Congress to address immigration. That has led us to the point where we are. People who were brought here as children who know no other country. Need to have a path. To citizenship, to stay here, to live the only life they've known to be the contributing members of U.S. society, that many of them already are, but without status. President Trump. If he's proven anything, he's proven to be predictably unpredictable. And by ending by announcing the end of this program, but giving it six months. And asking Congress to finally tackle their responsibility that they've avoided for a quarter century, I think has been he's sort of been very cagey about it. I think that he is forcing Congress's hand. And I think what we've seen since the announcement is, Mr. President, we've seen a bipartisan effort, Senator Gardner and Senator Bennet here in Colorado. In fact, we've seen a bipartisan effort and a commitment to ironing this out in favor of. The Docker program individuals. So I think that we I think we might see things we aren't right now expecting. Six months from now by forcing Congress's hand. And I think it's about time that that someone did that. And I think the president took it on as his own responsibility to do that. So with that, I won't be supporting this proclamation tonight and looking forward to sitting here six months from now and seeing a favorable resolution. Thank you. Thank you. Councilman Flynn. Councilman Ortega. Thank you, Mr. President. I'll be brief. When President Trump started talking about his approach to immigration, his focus was on criminals. So why now is he targeting our children? President Trump, leave our children alone. Thank you. All. Hey, man. Thank you. Aw, come on. Guzman-Lopez. Yeah, I. Forgot to say one thing. You know. All kidding. With our. With our sports aside. There's someone here I want to take my hats off to. And you could take your hat off if you want to at this one. And that's President Franco, right? CSU, you know, CSU came out ahead of everybody and said, you leave our kids alone. They said, they will. They will step up to the plate. Metrowest stood up to the plate. I see you standing up to the plate. You said it is incumbent upon our institutions to stand up to the plate, to stand up for these children. And I just wanted to thank you, sir, for your leadership on that issue and for CSU coming out so strong on doing that. So hats off. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Okay. Seeing no other comments, Madam Secretary. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. Did he just tell Councilman Clark he could take his hat off? No, not everybody else. I'm so sorry. Madam Secretary. Please. Real call quickly. Black Eye. Clark. Hi, Espinosa. I flynn. All right. Herndon, I. All right. Cashman. Hi. Lopez. Ortega. Sussman. Hi, Mr. President. I police close voting, announce the results. One is missing. No. Oh, yeah, we are missing. Mr. President, as me. But my screen says. I'm marked as absent. Okay, you got it. We got you. Thank you. Councilman Herndon. Ten Eyes. Proclamation 1011 has been adopted. Councilwoman Black, Councilman Castro, and anyone you guys want to bring up. Yeah, we would like to ask two young dreamers up to the podium. The first is Esmeralda, Tierra Chavez, who Councilman Cashman already introduced. Please come up and come to the podium. She's a student in House South High School. And I'd also like to invite Hazel Munoz. Come on up. Hazel's is a family friend. I have known him for more than a decade. I have seen him grown, grow from a young teen to a very accomplished man. I have seen him balance risks and rewards as he has worked very, very hard. He's excelled at school against a lot of odds and in sports. Today he has an MBA from CSU Pueblo and works as a financial analyst. He's also a very kind and generous person and a good friend, and he contributes to our society in many positive ways. So I would like both of you to say a few words, please. As a. Ladies first. Ladies first. I would warmly like to thank Mr. Cashman for inviting me here today on behalf of myself high school. And if it is okay with Mr. President, I would like to say a speech I wrote myself, and I am sorry if it takes a bit, but I want to make sure that I get my message across as the members of the city council. Go ahead. Okay. I'm sorry. This is the first time I've done something like this, so I'm kind of nervous. But I shouldn't be, because I should be proud of. Who I am today? I guess so. Hello, everyone. My name is Gerard Chavez, but you can call me A-Z. I am here today on behalf of South High School to speak of a worldwide issue that has culminated our nation. The date September 5th, 2017 will forever be remembered as the day the President of the United States said no to our dreamers, no to our dreams, no to our aspirations, and no to our hope. As a recipient. I am here today to make my voice be heard. I know most of you sitting in the crowd are here to listen to a story. A story of how I crossed the border, how I overcame my struggles. But you want to know something? My story is no different compared to any other story. You will hear from any of the 800,000 Dreamers we have present here today. All of us came with a purpose to reach the American dream. But let me ask you something. What is the American dream? For all of us, it is different. For some, it might be economic prosperity. For others, it might be the ability to gain the materialistic objects we have always wanted. Like a new car, a new house and whatnot. Globally. We have all been engraved in our minds that the American dream is opportunity for prosperity and success. But what good does this definition serve us if we sit on the wings of the people who cross borders, who cross seas across mountains, to come to a country where they are offered these opportunities? So does this mean that the American dream will only pertain to those born in the United States? Well, let me tell you something. We are a country of immigrants. We are all immigrants. We all immigrated to different countries, different continents. Why? To search for a better life, a better education. And most of all, to search for our dreams. Crossing the border for me was not only crossing the border between Mexico and the United States, it was also crossing the mental border inside of me as undocumented immigrants. All of us knew the consequences of coming to a country where one single piece of paper was the difference between you and me. Reassured ourselves that we would hide in the shadows, that we would hide under the words of the people that judge us day and night. It took me a long time to find my voice. But by the help of a friend of mine, Ethan McNamee, whom we rest in peace, I find the voice inside of me. I found my courage. And more or less, I found my pride. I am proud to be an immigrant, and I am proud to be the person I am today. I built my own wings. I built my own path. And by the hope and support of my family. I built my own dream. Martin Luther King Jr once said, I have a dream that one day my four little children will one day live in a nation will they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I cannot change the color of my skin. I cannot change the way my story was written. But, uh, sorry, but, uh. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Oh, I lost my path. But I belong to two cultures and I belong to two countries. And look, he made it clear that our culture does not define us, but that our actions and our words are the ones that speak louder than any bullet we let loose. As a captain of both the varsity soccer and cross-country teams. One of the things that we constantly talk about is resiliency. And it means showing toughness, toughness in life's most difficult moments. All my life, I've been a constant battle with the obstacles that life has thrown at me. I have struggled with my insecurities, with my decisions, and with my own self-doubt. It is easy to give up and quit when it gets too tough and when it seems like nothing will get better. But I chose to do the unexpected. I chose to rise up and fight the social inequalities. I chose to fight against the racial segregation we see constantly in the news, the radio and the television. I choose when to find my own battles and my victories are the ones that define me. I have accomplished so much and no one will take my achievements away from me. I have been named defensive MVP for my varsity soccer team two years now. I have been named the team MVP for two consecutive years for my varsity cross country team. I have been in the Student Athlete of the Week five times in my high school. I have been in the Mile High School Player of the Year. I have created my own leadership projects to help out our community and so much more. All those things. All those things don't come easy. They come with sacrifice. And now, coming into my senior year, I will be one of the two members of my family, including my cousin Yasmin, who lives in Mexico to graduate from high school and go to college. I will be on the run for a full ride scholarship to play soccer at Njcaa D1 College. And I am one. And I know that one day I will be a physical therapist and no one and nothing will stop me from accomplishing my dreams. When I heard about the news on the television and I heard that Dhaka was at risk of being repealed, I was sad. I was overwhelmed. And more or less I was scared. I felt like once again, my future was in jeopardy. And no words can describe that feeling of desperation, anger and frustration of once again being one step behind. I cried, and I felt like that was my only way of letting out the anger. And after talking to one of my teachers, Mr. Marini, who has been a vital part of my success, I came home and I thought to myself, What will crying do? What will every year bring me? Every tear served as a reassurance that hopefully something good will come out of this. But I was tired. Tired of depending on people to make decisions for me. Tired of people that. Tired of people determining my future. And it was at that moment when I told myself. No more will I sit in the shadows. Hiding from society. Hiding because of fear. And no more will I hide the hide behind the words of the people that constantly bring us down. I am here to fight and I'm here to stay because no one because no more will let my voice be unheard. And no more will I let this one. And no more will I stand the stereotypes that feel like bullets hitting my chest. I will stand up, use my voice, which is the most powerful weapon any person can have. And I will fight for the people that, just like me, have dreams. On Friday at my school held the Dakar rally and I had the pleasure of telling my story to my peers. At that very moment, I felt appreciated. I felt loved. And I felt pride. Pride because I had the courage to tell others a part of me that I didn't feel worthy of saying. And as I looked around and saw people's faces, one thing I noticed was a different people present people with different backgrounds, with different stories for different cultures. And here we were, all standing together, transpiring, love, support and hope. The US is enriched with many different cultures and as a nation we should appreciate when no other country has. And that is opportunity of learning is speaking to people all over the world, all in one place. We are a living kaleidoscope. My sister, who was born in the United States, came home that day and was confused, confused, confused because she didn't know what to call herself anymore. She asked my dad, But am I an immigrant? Think about it for a second and ask yourself, am I an immigrant? From my perspective, we are all immigrants because from the moment you choose, you choose to cross the street, to cross the city, to cross a country, to cross the border. In order to chase your dreams, you become an immigrant. Thank you very much for giving me the time to speak and for giving me the opportunity to stand up. And I would formally like to in my speech by saying to Attorney General Jeff Sessions that we are not illegal aliens. We are human beings. We are the future of this country. And we are dreamers. Now. Wow. That was that was really powerful. Thank you so much. That's a hard act to follow, he says. I did tell, he says, to keep his comments to 3 minutes. So. Feel free to talk as long as you want. But I don't want. It's a hard. Act to follow. That was an amazing speech. So go for it. He says. You're. Absolutely right. And she said a lot of things. A lot of sentiments that we all echo and that we all share. You know, I know that there's thousands of us, like she said, that are going through the same plight. So I'd like to start off by just thanking everybody for dedicating some of your time and attention to this matter. I know there's a lot of things going on in the world that require attention, and so it means a lot to us. As you all know, DOCA has been rescinded by Donald Trump, our president, which has essentially put an expiration date on the livelihood of all of the recipients on the program. The burden has been passed to Congress to pass legislation that will determine our future in this great country. And since Congress is an extension of the will of the people, really, our fate lies in your hands. It's. I hope you guys understand the importance and the. The fact that this decision these next few months will have on our lives. Get to know the Dreamers. Get to know who they are, you know, because this is going to be a big decision that, you know, is going to impact almost every detail of our life. Doctor recipients have been termed dreamers because we are chasing the American dream. We grew up knowing this country as a land of opportunity. When we had hard work and good values, we were told. That. If you had hard work and good values, you would prevail, you'd become successful. And where you can earn a place in society through commitment and dedication. We love this land because it gives us hope. We understand that for many of us, this is the only place that we ever wanted to call home. And the only place that we know is such. I understand that we find ourselves in our current situation because immigration laws and policies were not followed oftentimes by our parents. Many of us were not aware or could not fully grasp that concept, and it occurred in my situation. For example, I was only five years old. I do not blame my parents, however, because a parent's love for a child will drive them to great lengths in order to give the children a better chance of life. Understand the current immigration laws are complex and lengthy. Many do not meet requirements to even apply. And for those a can processing times often extend decades. I understand that many of these parents are coming from extremely dire situations places where you can work hard your whole life and still not have food on the table. Some days, places where opportunities are limited and the main out of a cycle of poverty as gangs. Or the cartel. I believe many immigrants have been misrepresented under the current political climate. As with any other society, it is true that there are immigrants, war criminals, rapists, gang members, those who pose a threat to society and those who must be dealt with. But by lumping all immigrants under that umbrella, you are misrepresenting the majority of immigrants who come and bust a sweat every day, day in, day out, under the most miserable conditions, often working multiple jobs for low pay. Those who never ask for handouts but yet dutifully pay their taxes. Those who are willing to sacrifice the best years of their youth to give their children opportunities in life that they never had. Those who contribute to the domestic economy and prevent further offshoring. I don't blame my parents. I thank them for their strive and sacrifice because the only time I ever saw them do was get up every day and come home exhausted, sometimes well into the night. As I talk to Dreamers, I find that we all have one thing in common the faith that if you work hard in this great country, you will find success. The faith is what got us through the many obstacles we have faced and are currently facing. As many of us grow up and become educated, we start developing ambitions and goals. Gradually, we come to the realization of our situation. You become painfully aware that the same opportunities are due now, are not landed to you as the rest of your peers. And you are presented with scenarios in which all of your hard work may not be rewarded, acknowledged, or even discouraged. Applying to higher education, as difficult as it is, becomes even more difficult. There's no financial aid from the government. Access to scholarships is extremely limited. You can't even apply for a job. And that's the realities that many are facing now and will face in the next six months as they get ready for graduation. A lot of juniors that are still in that same situation. And what that does is eventually you start feeling more and more of an outcast. There's a small feeling of betrayal that you overcome only by placing your faith and the values you have come to know growing up in the United States of America. The faith that as uncertain as your future plight may seem, you will find success if you keep working hard and upholding your morals. It is a difficult situation and a burden that we must live with every day. But we find hope in our community, the people we see every day who cheer us on, those who are willing to extend help and love regardless of your background. Today I stand here blessed because I have been given the opportunity to chase my dreams and goals. Thanks to the support I have received, I graduated with an MBA and I am currently chasing my dreams and I'm proudly working and paying taxes thanks to Dakar. When Dakar was issued, many of us step forward and place our trust in the American people. We understood that Daka did not grant us any legal status or federal benefits, but we were presented with the opportunity to contribute to our communities and step out of the shadows. And we grasped it. We paid the fees, and we gave up information about every detail of her life to be inspected by government officials who would decide if we get a driver's license, apply to school, apply for a job, and live under the laws of society as best as we could. Dacca was never a permanent solution. As the name implies, the ultimate decision was simply deferred. And we knew that everything we had worked for could be stripped from us at any moment. This is more apparent now than ever before. We have been living in a dream and the hopes that it would become a reality eventually. I understand that many of us. For many of us, there are no pathways to becoming documented under current immigration laws. It's not for lack of wanting or trying. We are not asking for handouts. We're simply asking for an opportunity to study, to work, to pay our taxes, to be productive members of society, to serve and protect, to be coaches, doctors, nurses, lawyers, construction workers, ultimately to give back and earn a place among the community and the country we have grown to love. Thanks for your time. Thank you. Well, I hope our Congress is watching this. I hope Jeff Sessions is watching this. And also, our president just got caught out by some incredible, incredible citizens, Denver citizens. Thank you guys so much for being here.