PHILADELPHIA – Today, the Philadelphia Youth Commission released the following statement in regards to the recent White House decision to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections. The following statement was released by commission chair, Roy Michael Roman, on behalf of the body:

“On September 5th, the Trump administration posed to Congress a decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections for the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who have only known the United States to be their home. The DACA protections that are currently in place protect undocumented youth around the nation that are honorably and lawfully living in the United States and contributing to our society. We, as a Commission, strongly urge Congress to reevaluate the DACA protections, craft legislation that supports those protections, and last but most assuredly not least, protect the lives of all Dreamers. We as the Philadelphia Youth Commission wish to extend our full support to Dreamers around the nation who risk losing their protections based on decisions made by adults about youth.

“The Philadelphia Youth Commission was created based on an idea that in all facets of life and regardless of circumstance, the youth voice matters and should undeniably be present in any and all discourse. Actions like these by the current administration motivate us to develop and uplift our voices. In the next six months, we as young leaders vow to take a stand and become more involved in the affairs of world, as we believe there should be no decision about youth without youth.”