Elvis Saldias, in the Ohio Statehouse, asks Congress to support extended protections for children who were brought to the United States while young and no longer have legal status.
Credit Andy Chow / Statehouse News Bureau
Young professionals in Ohio are sharing their stories, hoping that Congress will pass a law that will save them from deportation. These so-called Dreamers were brought to the U.S. as children, then lost their legal status. And they say America is the only home they know.
Elvis Saldias was 9-years-old when his mother brought him to America from Bolivia. He grew up undocumented after their visas expired. With the Trump Administration winding down the DACA program, Saldias says he’s living under the possible threat of deportation.
“If those protections end, then something as small as driving to the grocery story, getting pulled over, that could be what deports somebody. So there’s always that fear," Salidas says.
Saldias and fellow Dreamers commended Republican Ohio Congressmen Steve Stivers and Pat Tiberi for sponsoring the Recognizing America’s Children Act, which offers extended protections and a path to legal status.
So far their bill has just one Democratic sponsor.
