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Thompson Champions Immigrants' Rights

February 3, 2017

Washington – Today, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) cosponsored two bills to protect the rights of immigrants. The DREAMers, Immigrants, and Refugees (DIRe) Legal Aid Act would provide help the most vulnerable among us get legal assistance should they face detention or deportation. As we saw this weekend, hasty executive orders can leave even documented immigrants at risk. Thompson also joined the Build Bridges Not Walls Act to block the President's order to build an expensive, insulting, and ultimately futile wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"We are a nation of immigrants, and we must uphold the values and principles that inspire so many to seek out their own American Dream," said Thompson. "Throughout this week, my office helped constituents who had been affected by the President's executive order. Thankfully, a husband and wife who were stranded in Nairobi made it home safe after I worked with federal agencies on their behalf.

"Clearly we must take steps to protect those who are simply hoping to build their lives here in America. For many DREAMers, America is the only home they know. Deporting them would be cruel and unnecessary. While ‘Build That Wall,' might have worked as a campaign slogan, it fails as public policy. It would bleed the middle class of their tax dollars without doing a thing to fix the real problems. I am proud to cosponsor these measures to protect immigrants, and I look forward to the day when we can work on actual, bipartisan immigration reform."

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