Open Letter to members of Congress

December 4, 2017 

Open Letter to members of Congress

Editor’s NOTE: Last week, activist Oklahomans working with FWD.us, a national group with a state affiliate, sent an open letter to all members of the Oklahoma congressional delegation. The group provided a copy of their letter to CapitolBeatOK founder and editor Patrick B. McGuigan. The letter and names of all who signed it is posted below. 
 
Dear Senators Inhofe and Lankford, and Representatives Bridenstine, Mullin, Lucas, Cole and Russell:

With less than a month before Members of Congress will go home for the holidays, we urge you to pass legislation this year that will protect hardworking young Dreamers from deportation, keep American families together, and ensure that nearly 800,000 young people currently living, working, and contributing to our communities can continue doing so in the only nation most of them have ever called home. 

Dreamers contribute billions of dollars to our GDP; they pay federal, state, and local taxes; they teach our children in school, and serve bravely in our military. In Oklahoma, more than 6,800 DACA recipients are already contributing to our local economy, and ripping them out of the workforce will cost $344 million in annual GDP. Dreamers make our communities stronger every day, but they are in urgent need of a permanent legislative solution that will protect them from becoming targets for deportation, ripped from their families and needlessly kicked out of the workforce. Beyond the devastating moral consequences, deporting hardworking young individuals is a waste of taxpayer dollars that would cost the U.S. economy $460 billion in lost GDP and $24.6 billion in lost Social Security and Medicare tax contributions. An overwhelming majority of Americans on both sides of the aisle agree that we should protect Dreamers from deportation. 

Congress has the opportunity to show genuine leadership in passing a permanent legislative solution to protect Dreamers. We urge you to do right by these hard working young people, who are American in every way but on paper, and pass legislation before you leave town for the holidays. Thank you for your time and consideration. 

Sincerely, 

Francisco Trevino 
Executive Director, Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 

Erika Lucas 
CEO, StitchCrew 

Robert Ruiz 
President, Scissortail Community Development Organization 

Rev. Justin Lindstrom 
Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma, St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral 

Lucia Carballo 
Chair, Tulsa Hispanic Affairs Commission 

Amanda Peregrina 
International Committee Chair, Tulsa Hispanic Affairs Commission 

Scott Carter Associate 
Professor of Economics, University of Tulsa 

Brisa Ledezma 
Teacher, Santa Fe South School 

Gerardo Rico Student
Oklahoma State University 

Tracey Morales 
Former Program Director, Aspiring Americans 

Brenda Hernandez 
Hispanic Community Leader 

Jorge Hernandez 
Hispanic Community Leader 

Rodrigo Rojas 
Director of Development and Communications, Teach for America 

Sandra Hosseini 
Office Manager, Jones Energy 

Lorena Rivas 
Attorney, Fry & Elder 

Daniel Gomez Partner, 
Conner and Winters LLP 

Vanessa Marez Dreamer, University of Oklahoma 

Jania Wester 
Tulsa Managing Director, Communities In Schools of Mid-America 

Blanca Zavala 

Jose Rubio 

Bob Ritz 

Cc: The Honorable Paul D. Ryan, Speaker of the House of Representatives The Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader, United States Senate 
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