BY Susan Carpenter Nationwide

PUBLISHED 3:58 PM ET Feb. 26, 2025

WASHINGTON — House lawmakers reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would create a legal pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. The American Dream and Promise Act of 2025 would also set up citizenship pathways for immigrants with Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforced Departure.

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What You Need To Know

House lawmakers reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would create a legal pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children
The American Dream and Promise Act of 2025 would also set up citizenship pathways for immigrants with Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforced Departure
The average recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program came to the country at age six and has been in the U.S. for 20 years
The American Dream and Promise Act of 2025 would protect and grant eligible Dreamers conditional permanent residence for ten years and cancel removal proceedings; it would also provide a pathway to citizenship for eligible Dreamers by granting them full lawful permanent resident status

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“Dreamers are American in every way but on paper,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, said in a statement accompanying the reintroduction of a bill that Congress has failed to pass despite multiple attempts. “For decades, they have contributed to and shaped the fabric of America. Yet they are currently denied their place in the American story.”

Garcia was part of a bipartisan coalition of nine lawmakers who reintroduced the bill, including Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Rep. Maria Elvia Salazar, R-Fla.

The average recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program came to the country at age six and has been in the U.S. for 20 years, according to the statement. DACA recipients pay almost $6.2 billion in federal taxes and $3.3 billion in state and local taxes each year.

The Center for American Progress estimates the U.S. economy would grow by $799 billion over the next 10 years if DACA recipients were able to become citizens.

An email to U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement requesting comment was