Senators Durbin and Lugar Urge Obama Administration to Stop Deportations of DREAMERS

JyArete · 04-21-2010, 02:59 PM

Wow! This is great! And you can see the actual letter on the link below!

Quote:

Today, Senators Durbin and Lugar in a bipartisan letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. The letter states:

"We respectfully request that you grant deferred action to individuals who would be eligible for cancellation of removal or a stay of removal under S. 729, the DREAM Act, bipartisan immigration reform legislation that we have introduced."

The letter goes on to quote several statements by Secretary Napolitano and the recent deferred action to widows of US citizens who were married for less than two years prior to their spouses' death.

We applaud Senators Durbin and Lugar for working together across party lines to find real solutions to the devastating consequences of our country’s broken immigration system. We thank Sen. Durbin’s leadership in moving forward on comprehensive immigration reform and for his continuous support for undocumented youth.

By requesting that the Obama Administration defer deportations for students who would qualify for legalization under the DREAM Act, the Senators have recognized that deportations are destroying families and communities. To fix our dysfunctional immigration system in this climate in which immigrant communities are under attack, such bipartisan cooperation is crucial.

More than 65,000 undocumented students graduate from our nations’ high schools every year—students who have no prospects of work or higher education because of current restrictive laws. The DREAM Act would help certain youths who arrived in the U.S. before they turned 16, many of whom remember no other home. The students must have lived in the U.S. for at least five years, must have good moral character, must have graduated from high school or obtained a GED, and must attend college or serve in the military for two years.

“Senator Durbin understands that the indiscriminate deportation of immigrants, without consideration of their contributions or other circumstances, makes absolutely no sense,” said ICIRR Board Leader Raul Raymundo.

Senator Durbin made the commitment to send the letter to Secretary Napolitano at a rally of more than 1,200 immigrants and their supporters hosted by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) on April 10th. The letter comes at the same time that immigrant advocates, community leaders and allies from labor, business, and faith across the country are calling on President Obama to stop deportations of non-criminal immigrants.

We join with organizations across the country in urging President Obama to use his leadership to get comprehensive immigration reform introduced by the end of April and to stop senseless deportations.

As we anticipate the introduction of a bipartisan Senate bill, ICIRR and other organizations are planning large mobilizations for May Day in Chicago and in other cities in Illinois and across the country.

The surging numbers of deportations, the new “Secure Communities” arrangements between ICE and six Illinois counties, and recent legislation that would criminalize immigrants such as Arizona’s SB 1070 are creating a reign of racial terror across the country. This letter is an important step toward solutions and shows the urgent need to reform the immigration system, now.

http://icirr.org/en/reform-immigrati...portations-dre

hef107 · 04-21-2010, 04:11 PM

That is great to hear! Do you think she will listen to them?

prettyjolie · 04-21-2010, 04:15 PM

^ Hope so! =)

VaeVictis · 04-21-2010, 05:15 PM

We should start contacting Napolitano's office with the urgency we're using for Gov. Brewer.

DA User · 04-21-2010, 07:22 PM

So Obama should put a temporary exectutive order on this or just introduce a bill for this?

Ianus · 04-21-2010, 07:31 PM

Here is what Napolitano's spokesman had to say.

Quote:

Napolitano isn’t making any promises. A spokesman of her department says immigration officials already can use discretion in deportation cases.

Jelly Bean Lover · 04-21-2010, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DA User

So Obama should put a temporary exectutive order on this or just introduce a bill for this?

As president, Obama is constitutionally charged with enforcing and executing the laws made by Congress. My guess is that they are saying he should implement a policy of choosing not to enforce deportation of people who would benefit from the DREAM Act. There is actually probably a lot he could do through executive orders and that sort of thing to make things better. That is why the continued focus on enforcement looks bad because he is at least keeping up with Bush on enforcement, maybe even outdoing him, depending on how you view his enforcement policy.

fd314 · 04-21-2010, 08:50 PM

people always have choices to everything...let's hope they make the right one.

DA User · 04-21-2010, 10:00 PM

Its important that CIR passes before the elections of 2010 and that means Hispanics will vote for Dems and Obama when 2012 comes.

ECL23 · 04-21-2010, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VaeVictis

We should start contacting Napolitano's office with the urgency we're using for Gov. Brewer.

I agree! I would say to contact her, letting her know how important this is.

They need you!

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Senators Durbin and Lugar Urge Obama Administration to Stop Deportations of DREAMERS