For Immediate Release: March 11, 2026
Contact: Michael Earls at [email protected]
Sen. Cortez Masto Makes Powerful Case for Dreamers and The Dream Act on Senate Floor
Watch the full speech from Senator Cortez Masto HERE and watch Gaby Pacheco’s recent State of the Dreamers address HERE
Washington, DC – In an important Senate floor speech today, Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto shared 10 stories of Dreamers being targeted for detention and deportation under this administration and made a powerful case for why protections and passage of the bipartisan Dream Act is urgently needed.
According to Gaby Pacheco, President & CEO of TheDream.US, “We thank Senator Cortez Masto for spotlighting how Dreamers, even Dreamers with DACA protections, are being targeted for detention and deportation. The stories the Senator shared are another reminder of the key question I keep asking myself and raised in my recent ‘State of the Dreamers’ address: what type of country do we want to be? What type of America do we want to build? One that recognizes Dreamers as valuable parts of American communities and America’s future? Or one that thinks the right way forward for America involves arresting and detaining and targeting Dreamers or denying them opportunities and protections to fully participate in the nation they have grown up in? Other policymakers should keep the drumbeat going by sharing more stories and reminders why Dreamers should be candidates for citizenship, not deportation.”
Watch the full speech from Senator Cortez Masto HERE and find key excerpts below:
“I want to highlight a group of people we haven’t been hearing enough about recently, and that’s Dreamers. Dreamers are men and women who came to the United States as children. They have only ever known this country as their home. The Dreamers I know go to college, they’ve become part of our workforce, they pay billions of dollars in taxes, and they are woven into the fabric of every community in Nevada … In my state, we have more than 10,000 Dreamers who are DACA recipients. Across the country, there are over 500,000 DACA recipients. They are nurses, small business owners, neighbors, and friends. They love this country, and they feel as American as U.S. citizens do.
But despite the fact that DACA recipients are supposed to be protected from deportation, this administration has chipped away at these protections … Dreamers have always had to live with uncertain futures. But now, that uncertainty is worse than ever … And for Dreamers who are too young to apply for DACA, they’re on their own – and immigration enforcement is exploiting that. What the Trump administration is doing to DACA recipients, to these Dreamers, and even to United States citizens goes against everything our nation was founded on, and we cannot allow it to go on any longer … That’s why we demand passage of the bipartisan Dream Act, to give these young people a path to citizenship and get them out of harm’s way.”
Senator Cortez Masto then shared 10 different stories of Dreamers who are examples of both the out-of-control enforcement directed against Dreamers and reminders why permanent protections like the Dream Act – instead of detention and deportation — are so essential to finally pass.
The Senator concluded her floor speech with a pledge to “keep up the fight – for Americans across this country, and for Dreamers like the ones whose stories I shared today who just want to feel at home in the only country they’ve ever called home.”
Watch the “State of the Dreamers” address from Gaby Pacheco: HERE
About TheDream.US
TheDream.US is the nation’s leading organization supporting Dreamers at the intersection of higher education, workforce development, immigration, and advocacy. We’ve awarded over 12,000 scholarships to immigrant youth from 120+ countries and 45 states, with 4,500 graduates to date. We partner with close to 80 colleges in 20 states and Washington D.C. to provide scholarships, career support, and access to legal options that help Dreamers break through systemic barriers and achieve social mobility.
Through data, Scholar and Alumni stories, strategic partnerships, and targeted state and local advocacy, we work to expand equitable access to college, professional pathways, and permanent legal status. For more information on TheDream.US, visit www.thedream.us
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