it was ten years ago that i joined with republican senator dick lugar of indiana on a bipartisan basis to call on president obama, begging him to use his legal authority to protect dreamers from deportation. president obama responded by creating the deferred action for childhood arrivals program known as daca. it provides temporary, two years at a time, protection from deportation for dreamers if they register with the government, pay a substantial fee, and pass criminal and national security background checks. more than 800,000 dreamers came forward and received daca protection. daca unleashed the full potential of these dreamers who are contributing to our nation in a variety of ways -- as soldiers, as teachers, as nurses, as small business owners. more than 200,000 daca recipients are currently -- currently -- quote, essential critical infrastructure workers, end of quote. that's not my term. it's the way president trump's department of homeland security describes the work of these daca recipients now. 200,000 of them, essential critical infrastructure workers. and among those, 41,7