Report in Support of the “BRIDGE” Act (Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy Act)

SUMMARY

The Immigration & Nationality Law Committee, Family Court & Family Law Committee, Council on Children and Children & the Law Committee support prompt passage of the Bar Removal of Individuals Who Dream and Grow our Economy, or BRIDGE Act, which would provide critical protection to young people by codifying in statute a new temporary status and employment authorization.   Nearly 800,000 individuals have put themselves forward and received temporary protection from deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, allowing them to study or work in the United States, and to contribute to their communities.  DACA has kept hundreds of thousands of families together and led to increases in tax revenue, higher education, home and auto ownership, and public safety.  Should the DACA program be discontinued, as recent reports have suggested, DACA recipients would face the prospect of near-certain deportation.  The Committees supports the BRIDGE Act as a temporary measure to avoid this outcome, while also calling for ultimate passage of a permanent solution through the DREAM Act.

BILL INFORMATION

H.R.496 (Rep. Coffman) / S.128 (Sen. Graham) – the Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy Act (BRIDGE Act); to provide provisional protected presence to qualified individuals who came to the United States as children (115th Congress (2017-2018))