ThinkProgress
By Esther Yu-Hsi Lee
January 12, 2016
Lawmakers
across the country are pushing back against the nationwide immigration
raids recently authorized by the Obama administration, which are
spreading fear and anxiety
among Central American families who are desperate to avoid being
deported to dangerous or violent environments in their countries of
origin.
Since
the beginning of the new year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) agents have taken 121 immigrants into custody as preparation for
deporting them. The White
House, which is justifying its operations due to fears about the
increasing number of immigrants showing up on the southern U.S. border,
says it has no plans of halting the raids. ICE will carry out additional
enforcement operations against immigrants “as
appropriate,” according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Secretary Jeh Johnson.
The
Obama administration insists that the immigrants being targeted all
have final orders of removal. But many advocates and lawyers have raised
concerns that immigrants
aren’t being given sufficient due process and that the U.S. government
is failing to provide accurate or sufficient notice regarding their
upcoming court proceedings. At least 20 people taken in the immigration
operation have already been granted a temporary
reprieve from deportation, allowing them enough time to appear before
immigration court.
In
response, many Democratic lawmakers are condemning the Obama
administration’s actions. Here’s a rundown of the politicians calling to
protect Central American families,
many of whom are seeking to permanently stay in the country through the
asylum process:
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
“Our
immigration enforcement efforts should be humane and conducted in
accordance with due process, and that is why I believe we must stop the
raids happening in immigrant
communities,” Clinton said in a press statement released Monday. “We
have laws and we must be guided by those laws, but we shouldn’t have
armed federal officers showing up at peoples’ homes, taking women and
children out of their beds in the middle of the
night. The raids have sown fear and division in immigrant communities
across the country. People are afraid to go to work. They are afraid to
send their kids to school. They are afraid to go to the hospital, or
even the grocery store.”
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders
“I
urge you to immediately end these raids and not deport families back to
countries where a death sentence awaits,” Sanders wrote in a letter to
the president last week.
“We cannot continue to employ inhumane tactics involving rounding up
and deporting tens of thousands of immigrant families to address a
crisis that requires compassion.”
Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley
“I
am writing to respectfully request that D.H.S. reconsider this approach
and instead look for ways to humanely treat people seeking refuge and
to greatly improve the
legal due process necessary for asylum,” O’Malley wrote in a letter to
the Department of Homeland Security.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
“This
is a very serious challenge,” Pelosi said during a press conference
last week. “In the processing of asylum claims of these women and
children and others fleeing
really horrific violence in Central America, the Department of Homeland
Security must ensure that no person is wrongfully deported to face
certain persecution or mortal danger — and that’s what’s happening
there.”
House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD)
“We
can’t simply turn away individuals and families fleeing violence. El
Salvador is now the murder capital of the world,” Hoyer said at a press
conference. “There are
also serious questions about how these raids are conducted, and whether
they are following, as I said, due process. We’ve heard of raids in
which not one individual was targeted, but entire families. The
President said we were going to focus on felons, not
families. Everybody understands focusing on felons. But focusing on
families is not reflective of our values.”
Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-IL)
“The
raids by the Obama administration on families from Central America must
stop,” Gutiérrez wrote in a statement last week. “They are a cruel
reminder of a discredited
policy. Along with other Members of Congress, I am seeking answers from
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson as to why this policy is
needed, why it was launched to instill fear in immigrant households over
the Christmas, New Year’s and Three Kings holidays,
and why family detention centers I have been trying to close are now
filling up with new families awaiting deportation.”
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA)
“Like
so many others surprised by ICE’s insensible holiday announcement, I
was outraged by the news of the recent immigrant raids,” Chu wrote in a
statement. “The targeting
of women and children is both wrong and contrary to our values as a
nation. What’s worse is that many of those being targeted are refugees
with legitimate asylum claims – not criminals who pose a threat to our
country.”
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
“I
am deeply disappointed in the harsh enforcement tactics the Department
of Homeland Security is using to apprehend vulnerable migrant women and
children,” Royball-Allard
wrote in a statement. “At a time when DHS is attempting to rebuild a
relationship with Latino communities, the invasion of people’s homes and
neighborhoods sows fear and distrust, and subjects migrant women and
children to further trauma.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus
“Invading
homes is inhumane and adds to the trauma of these families fleeing
violence and oppression,” Rep. Linda Sanchez, the chair of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus,
said in a statement. “Many recent immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras,
and El Salvador are escaping one of the most dangerous regions in the
world. In the past, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has spoken in
defense of the unaccompanied minors fleeing the
Central American countries. These minors could be our sons, daughters,
nieces and nephews.”
House Democrats
“You
and your administration have upheld time-honored American values by
offering refuge to those fleeing violence and disorder in the Middle
East, Africa, and Asia. We
commend you for that,” a letter co-signed by more than 146 Democrats
states. “However, these same fundamental American values have not been
applied in your administration’s policies towards Central American
refugee mothers and children.”
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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