Several 2020 Democrats tweeted Saturday to mark the 7th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or DACA, which allows people brought to the U.S. illegally as children to remain in the U.S.
The Obama administration announced the program on June 15, 2012, though it did not go into effect immediately.
The Trump administration announced in 2017 that it would rescind the program, which allowed hundreds of thousands of immigratns, known as Dreamers, to stay in the country.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) this week said she would use executive action to give Dreamers a pathway to citizenship if she were elected President. She reiterated that promise in a tweet on Saturday.
Obama-administration Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro tweeted a video of his former boss discussing the program. Castro pledged to protect Dreamers with “a lasting solution at all costs.”
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who has been criticized for changing her position on immigration since becoming a senator, also endorsed a pathway to citizenship.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee tweeted a link to his immigration plan, which includes “overhauling our immigration system so it is humane, just, and efficient, centered on a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and expedited eligibility for DREAMers.”
Harris, Inslee, Gillibrand and Castro are among two dozen people vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.