Washington Post
By David Nakamura
March 13, 2014
President
Obama on Thursday ordered his administration to review its immigration
policies to determine ways to make it more humane, a response to
mounting pressure from
advocates to stem deportations of illegal immigrants.
The
move came after Obama met at the White House with three members of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which has been drafting a letter to the
president expressing
concerns about the administration's deportation policy.
Obama
"emphasized his deep concern about the pain too many families feel from
the separation that comes from our broken immigration system," the
White House said in a
statement after the president's meeting with Democratic Reps. Ruben
Hinojosa (Tex.), Xavier Becerra (Calif.) and Luis Gutierrez (Ill.).
Obama
has said repeatedly that he is powerless to expand a decision in 2012
to suspend the deportations of hundreds of thousands of young people
brought to the country
illegally by their parents. But the congressmen are among a growing
number of lawmakers and advocacy groups that are calling on the
president to use his executive authority to do more to relieve pressure
on the nation's more than 11 million undocumented immigrants.
The
Obama administration has deported nearly 2 million undocumented
immigrants, according to figures from the Department of Homeland
Security. In the announcement, the
White House said the president asked Homeland Security Secretary Jeh
Johnson to take an "inventory" of immigration enforcement policies,
though no specifics were included about what changes might be made.
The
AFL-CIO and the National Council of La Raza, along with influential
Sens. Robert Menendez (N.J.) and Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), are among
those who have joined the
outcry in recent weeks.
“It
is clear that the pleas from the community got through to the
president," Gutierrez said in a statement. "The CHC will work with him
to keep families together. The
president clearly expressed the heartbreak he feels because of the
devastating effect that deportations have on families."
An
administration aide said Obama would meet with advocates Friday at the
White House to discuss the issue. But some groups reacted skeptically to
the announcement.
"Relief
delayed is relief denied," said Pablo Alvarado, director of the
National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which has filed a rule-making
petition with the homeland
security department seeking changes to deportation policies. "The
president has no excuse to continue his unjust deportation policy, and
the Congressional Hispanic Caucus should not delay joining what is now a
consensus position that the president can and
should suspend deportations."
The
White House said Obama urged lawmakers to continue to press Republicans
to support comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
"Actions
speak louder than press releases," the Dream Action Coalition said in a
statement. "We hope the president’s words are genuine and lead to
concrete enforcement
reform."
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