We, the Executive Board of the Committee of Interns & Residents, are furious and distressed at the Trump Administration’s announcement to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program – this program has allowed individuals who entered the U.S. as minors without documentation to apply for a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation, and be eligible for a work permit. Hundreds of thousands of people will come under serious threat by this inhumane decision, and we cannot allow this to happen.

The DREAM acronym is one of the most apropos in our lexicon – hundreds of thousands of people come to the United States in search of the same American Dream that those born here pursue.  These aren’t just numbers; these are real people within our communities, including our physician community.  They are our patients, our neighbors, our friends, our family-members, our coworkers.  They attend school, work alongside us, pay their taxes.  They deserve the same respect and opportunities as those born in this country.

Ending DACA means lives and families will be thrown into chaos, without any clear reason or purpose beyond building walls between the United States and the rest of the world.  As a union representing thousands of resident physicians, it means that many of our future colleagues will be stopped in their tracks on their way to joining our physician workforce and bolstering the health of our nation.

We are committed to standing with our neighbors, our patients, our friends – those born in this country as well as those who have come here in search of better lives just as many of us and our families before us have.

Are you a DACA recipient or former DACA recipient?  Please call 212-356-8195 or email cirls@cirseiu.org to speak with a CIR staff member about support and resources available to you through the union, and, if you wish, how the union can help you tell your story (calls and emails will be confidential).

In addition, we strongly urge all members to consider signing this open letter to Congress urging them to pass legislation to protect DACA recipients for the good of our friends and neighbors and the health of our communities.

Dr. Eve Kellner, President
Dr. Michelle Fletcher, Executive Vice President
Dr. Jessica Edwards, Secretary-Treasurer