Fate of "Dreamers" may be missing in current discussions by lawmakers
WASHINGTON (SBG) - 20-year-old Gabriela Hernandez views her time in the United States fondly, but says the last few years have been frustrating.
“I would really like dreamers to stop being used as pawns because we’re not.”
"Dreamers" are those brought to the United States illegally as children, who have spent most of their lives here.
Brought here at four-years-old, Gaby said lately she feels stuck in limbo.
“At the end of the day we are all human beings and we have lived in this country for a certain amount of years. We feel that we are from this country," she said in an interview Friday.
The fate of Dreamers has been central to talks on immigration reform and has sparked many protests in Washington.
During the Government Shutdown, President Trump offered three years of legislative relief for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients.
"This extension will give them access to work permits, social security numbers and protection from deportation most importantly," the President said in a speech from the White House.
Still, it was President Trump who took away many of the more permanent protections put in place by President Obama.
Former Trump Administration official Dr. Sebastian Gorka defended the President's move and blames Democrats for acting in bad faith.
"The President said I need a wall. I will give some kind of DACA relief. The Democrats refused to provide the $5.7 billion the President wants to begin the wall," he said in an interview Friday.
Now that government has re-opened, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is hashing out a new spending deal.
We pressed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi about where Dreamers are in all of this, if at all. She did not really provide a straight forward answer.
"In terms of this negotiation it’s up to the conferee’s to negotiate but the point is what is the best way to protest the border," she said.
Just a few miles outside of Washington, in Maryland, Hernandez worries her fate has once again been put on the back burner.
"I think it’s a bit heartbreaking because if you’re going to discuss border security you have to address what the issue is currently with immigration status here," she said.
