Ron hears from Oregon's powerful DREAM Team

by Communications Office

DREAMers told Ron recently in Eugene and Portland their powerful and poignant accounts of how the Trump administration has cruelly injected fear into their lives and the lives of their families.

The roundtables in both cities with these students and those working hard in Oregon to protect their ability to continue contributing to their communities follow the administration’s broken promise to the estimated 11,000 Oregonians in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

“These young people are going to be able to have such extraordinary lives in Oregon if the government just steps up and does what is right,” Ron said after the Eugene meeting. “These young people have done nothing wrong.”

Oregon DREAMers met with Ron to give voice to the justifiable pride they feel in both their academics and achievements.

In the Eugene meeting at the University of Oregon, student voices included brothers Esli Becerra and Kevin Segura sharing the sacrifices they’ve made for each other’s schooling and Cynthia Aguilar recounting how she wants to stay in the United States to help her mom who has sacrificed so much for her.

Ron held a similar roundtable hosted by Catholic Charities in Portland with Senator Merkley. There, students such as Eastern Oregon University student body president Daysi Bedolla spoke about the huge contributions DREAMers are making in their hometowns and college campuses.

The estimated economic impact of the nearly 800,000 DREAMers nationwide is more than $460 billion over the next decade, including about $600 million a year in Oregon.

Ron said in both Portland and Eugene that he will continue fighting for all these young people in Oregon and nationwide.

“You are the real “Dream Team,” Ron told the DREAMers. “And I am proud to be your teammate in this fundamental fight for fairness.”