WASHINGTON D.C. — Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, has joined a bipartisan group of House members in cosponsoring legislation to provide protection from deportation to young people who were brought into the United States as children.

The Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy (BRIDGE) Act, which would give temporary relief from deportation and work authorization to undocumented youth, was introduced in the House by Reps. Mike Coffman, R-Colorado, and Luis V. Gutiérrez, D-Illinois. Companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Lindsay Graham, R-South Carolina, and Dick Durbin, D-Illinois.

“From our founding, America has been a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws,” Newhouse said. “Our own communities in central Washington are a testament to the contributions of immigrants to the fabric of American society. It is the sole responsibility of Congress to write laws that provide a humane solution to our broken immigration system.”

The BRIDGE Act would give undocumented youth employment authorization, granted that they are eligible for the Department of Homeland Security’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a 2012 executive order signed by former President Barack Obama. DACA gives temporary protection from deportation and work authorization to young students and veterans in the U.S. if they register with the government, pay a fee and pass a criminal background check.

In order to be eligible for protection under DACA, an immigrant is required to have been brought into the country before the age of 16 and before June 2007, be enrolled in school, a high school graduate, or be honorably discharged from the military, be under 31 as of June 15, 2012, and not have a serious criminal history.

The temporary protection written into the BRIDGE Act would allow young people covered by DACA to stay in the country for three more years and spare them from deportation, as one of President Donald Trump’s promises on the campaign trail was to overturn the controversial DACA program, according to the Associated Press.

“A current DACA recipient would receive provisional protected presence until the expiration date of his or her DACA status and could apply for provisional protected presence prior to that expiration. An individual who is not a DACA recipient but who is eligible for DACA could also apply for provisional protected presence,” reads a BRIDGE Act summary from Newhouse’s office.

The AP reports that Trump plans to reveal a proposal with regard to DACA, and the 752,000 people across the country who have benefited from it, sometime within the next month.

“I am proud to join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to protect children brought here through no fault of their own,” Newhouse stated. “These children and young adults deserve stability here in the U.S. while Congress comes together on long-term immigration reform to provide a permanent solution for them, secure our borders, and build a reasonable and accessible immigration system going forward.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.