Today, U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) released the following statement regarding President Trump’s March 5 DACA deadline and continued congressional inaction on the issue:

“Today is the deadline Donald Trump imposed six months ago when he threatened to deport current DACA recipients. Congress was given six months to pass legislation to protect the Dreamers. While this artificial deadline was recklessly imposed, Republicans knew that failure to act could doom these Americans. 

“And yet we have reached Trump’s cruel cutoff and failed to act.

“Speaker Ryan’s leadership was AWOL when he did not even allow a vote to take place in the House of Representatives. Instead, we spent our time jamming through a millionaire’s tax cut for Republican donors. Republicans have never been serious about addressing immigration. Over the years I have served in Congress, House Republicans have stopped dead every single initiative to protect the Dreamers. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to know where Republicans stand on reforming our immigration system.

“Despite recent court decisions, DACA recipients have no assurances the federal government will keep its end of the bargain after we asked them to step out of the shadows and enter everyday life. It is long past time for us to hold a vote on the DREAM Act. In light of today’s deadline, I reiterate my call on Speaker Ryan: do your job and let us vote!”