SAN ANTONIO – The same day Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals supporters rallied outside Rep. Will Hurd’s San Antonio office, demanding that the Texas Republican support a "clean" Dream Act, an ad campaign was launched targeting him and his congressional colleagues.
The campaign featuring television and digital ads is an effort by the Emerson Collective, a philanthropic organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple’s billionaire founder, Steve Jobs.
The spot focusing the 23rd District congressman ends with the video saying, “Tell Rep. Hurd: It’s not enough to just say you support Dreamers. Pass the Dream Act now.”
Although Hurd did not comment on Tuesday’s rally, he has a statement on his website and he has said in the past that he’s hopeful Congress can “come up with a permanent solution for children brought here through no fault of their own.”
One of the so-called Dreamers is Karen Reyes, who has been in the U.S. since she was 2 years old. A graduate of Churchill High School, where she was in the marching band, Reyes is now a teacher in Austin with a master’s degree in deaf education and hearing science.
Reyes, who is active in United We Dream, was among the speakers at Tuesday’s rally. She is among those wanting a congressional vote by the end of the year on a "clean" Dream Act without any add-ons.
Congress, however, remains divided on the issue.
“We cannot wait. We need this now,” she said, because thousands of recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals now risk being deported if they were not able to renew their status.
Reyes said her DACA expires in August, past the March 6 deadline set after President Trump rescinded the Obama-era program.
“Unless the Dream Act passes, this is my last year teaching," Reyes said. “Should I get deported, I will have to go to a country I know nothing about. It’s terrifying.”
Reyes said the last time she visited family in Mexico was in 1999 as a child.
“I know it’s not just myself,” she said. “We are living with so much anxiety, fear and uncertainty in our lives.”
Digital ads by Emerson Collective