Looming DACA deadline spurs action in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- With a deadline for DACA renewals days away and Dream Act proposals on the table, immigrant rights organization CHIRLA is doubling down efforts.
The focus is on pressuring GOP leaders seeking reelection in California to support what proponents call a "clean" Dream Act.
"We want a pathaway to citizenship we're not going to take anything less," said one CHIRLA representative.
The organization opposes a more conservative version unveiled by Republican senators Thom Tillis and James Lankford, and a new ABC News and Washington Post poll shows a vast majority of the country wants to protect dreamers from deportation.
Eighty-six percent of Americans said they support a right to residency for undocumented immigrants brought here as children, according to the poll.
Sixty-five percent support Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, plus more border security.
Twenty-seven percent oppose.
Many DACA recipients worry a Dream Act could mean heightened immigration enforcement that would put their loved ones in greater danger.
The organization is holding rallies, lobbying, making congressional visits and sending out post cards to members of Congress as part of its campaign to secure the permanent legislation.
