Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement concerning a letter she and more than one hundred of her colleagues sent to President Obama urging him to prevent the misuse of information involving participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Since the program was established in 2012, more than 740,000 young men and women have obtained Social Security numbers and work permits, and have been allowed to remain in the United States without the threat of deportation.

“DACA has allowed hundreds of thousands of young people who know this nation as their only home to remain here and pursue the American Dream, by completing their education, starting businesses, and gaining employment. I am deeply concerned that the incoming presidential administration has verbally expressed contempt for this very vulnerable segment of our population and will attempt to misuse the information provided by DACA participants by literally following through on threats of deportations. These young women and men have increasingly become a significant part of the fabric of our community and are a vital part of our civil society, whose aspirations we should support. With their information and that of their families readily accessible to the incoming administration through the data that was collected in the administering of the DACA program, it is imperative that all that can be done should be done to protect these young people from this looming threat. We call on President Obama to exercise his authority to protect the 740,000 people enrolled in DACA and prevent the exploitation of personal information that was submitted to the Department of Homeland Security.”

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, the Committee on Ethics and the Committee on Small Business in the House of Representatives, proudly represents Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, Park Slope, Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.