Police arrest demonstrators in front of the
White House that were demanding that President
Barack Obama halt deportations August 28, 2014
in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty
Images)
(2014 Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) – Twenty-two
Democratic senators asked President Barack Obama
on Friday to halt the recent round of federal
deportation raids, highlighting anew the schism
within the party over the administration's
handling of Central American immigrants.
In a letter, the senators wrote that the
raids were sweeping up mothers and children who
face threats of violence and death when they are
returned to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
"We are troubled by the priorities reflected
in these enforcement actions," the lawmakers
wrote. "It is important to evaluate this as a
humanitarian and refugee crisis involving a
vulnerable population and not strictly as a
border security and immigration enforcement
matter."
The senators said the tactic of using highly
publicized raids, sometimes in the pre-dawn
hours, was "shocking and misguided." They also
rejected administration arguments that the
operations would deter additional immigrants
from fleeing the region to the U.S., saying,
"That argument relies on the false premise that
most of these people are not fleeing
extraordinary danger."
So far, at least 121 people — many from
Central America — have been detained in raids
that began during the holiday season. Also on
the horizon are the first votes in the 2016
presidential caucuses and primaries, a campaign
in which GOP contenders Donald Trump, Ted Cruz
and Marco Rubio have staked out tough positions
against illegal immigration.
To justify the raids, administration
officials have cited an increase in the numbers
of families and children arriving at the U.S.
border from Central America, spurring memories
of the large numbers of people who tried
entering the country in the summer of 2014.
"While we recognize the serious underlying
conditions that cause some people to flee their
home countries, we cannot allow our borders to
be open to illegal migration," said White House
spokesman Peter Boogaard. "Those who come here
illegally will be sent home after being provided
an opportunity to have their cases and
humanitarian claims heard, consistent with our
laws and values."
Boogaard said those taken into custody in
recent weeks by immigration enforcement agents
have been ordered by courts to be removed from
the U.S. and "have no outstanding appeal or
claim for asylum or other humanitarian relief
under our laws."
The 22 senators comprise nearly half of all
Democrats in the Senate. Among those signing
were No. 2 Senate Democratic leader Richard
Durbin of Illinois, presidential candidate Sen.
Bernie Sanders of Vermont, liberal Sen.
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Vermont
Sen. Patrick Leahy, top Democrat on the
Judiciary Committee.
Not signing were Senate Minority Leader Harry
Reid, D-Nev., who has expressed hope the raids
would be paused, and the lawmaker likely to
succeed him as Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer
of New York.
In the letter, the senators asked that
deportations be slowed so the immigrants could
be given legal counsel, even though that is not
required. They also asked that immigrants from
El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras be granted a
special status that lets people stay in the U.S.
temporarily until federal officials declare it
is safe for them to return.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2016/01/23/breaking-with-obama-22-senate-democrats-seek-to-halt-deportation-raids/