By James Gordon | Daily Mail UK | JAN. 1, 2023 | Photo provided by Delia Ramirez
The husband of newly-elected Illinois Democratic congresswoman Delia Ramirez, 39, could face deportation along with hundreds of thousands of others if Congressdoes not act to pass DREAM Act legislation during its next session.
Boris Hernandez, who married Ramirez during the pandemic, arrived in the US as a 14-year-old under a 2012 Obama-era policy known as DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).
It allowed certain immigrants who came to the US as children, also known as 'Dreamers,' to apply for protection from deportation and to receive a work permit.
Hernandez is one such DACA recipient and has lived in the US for most of his life but even though he is legally married to Ramirez, a US citizen, it still means together they are a 'mixed-status family' and he is still not a US citizen, nor can her vote for his own wife.
'I'm going to be fighting to keep my husband here and I'm a member of Congress. …. What happens to the other 2 million undocumented immigrants that the DREAM Act would protect? What happens to his brother? What happens to my best friend from high school? What happens to all of them who have no pathway, who don't have a citizen husband or wife or partner?' Ramirez asks.
The DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) would provide a pathway to citizenship for around 2 million undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children.
It includes Hernandez who came to the country as a young teenager.
If passed, the Act would allow 'Dreamers,' to apply for legal permanent resident status and eventually become eligible for citizenship.
Ramirez met Hernandez in October 2020 describing her relationship as 'one of those pandemic loves.'
