Today, the Human Rights Campaign responded to the House’s passage of the Senate budget and called on Congress to get to work immediately in protecting over one million young people from potential deportation and violence, including 75,000 LGBTQ Dreamers:
“While this budget agreement includes vital funding for health care, especially for people living with HIV and AIDS, we remain deeply concerned that millions of Dreamers are still at risk each day that Congress fails to protect them. Mitch McConnell must follow through on his promises and quickly allow a vote on the Dream Act in the Senate and Paul Ryan must do the same in the House,” said David Stacy, HRC Government Affairs Director. “More than one million Dreamers, including 75,000 LGBTQ young people, face uncertainty in the only country they’ve ever known. We will not rest until Congress protects them.”
The budget deal passed on Friday morning ends the sequester caps on domestic discretionary spending for two years, preventing devastating sequester cuts to essential HIV/AIDS programs. It includes more than $7 billion in total funding for Community Health Centers (CHCs), which are critical to HIV prevention. Because of the Trump-Pence Administration’s inaction, a fifth of the total funding for 9,800 CHCs had been in jeopardy before the agreement. LGBTQ seniors, particularly those living with HIV will benefit from elimination of the Medicare Part D “donut hole.”
In September, Donald Trump ordered an end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. While Trump and congressional leaders have continuously put off finding a resolution and protecting the fate of more than one million Dreamers, the Human Rights Campaign and coalition partners have spent the past five months demanding action to save DACA.
HRC has signed on to numerous letters in support of Dreamers and the DREAM Act and members of HRC placed thousands of calls to Congress. Following Trump’s announcement in September that he intended to end DACA, HRC produced several videos of LGBTQ Dreamers to put a human face on the inhumane consequences facing over a million Dreamers.
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