HF Statement on Trump’s List of Immigration Measures for DACA Relief
October 9, 2017 (New York, NY) – José Calederón, President of Hispanic Federation, issued the following statement regarding the list of immigration measures that President Trump is demanding in exchange for helping DACA participants:
“President Trump announced this weekend that his administration would consider limited protections for certain undocumented immigrants through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program only if Congress agreed to enact a series of measures that would fundamentally upend American immigration policies. This is a callous and manipulative attempt to hold young undocumented immigrants hostage in exchange for securing some of the most retrograde and un-American immigration policies this country has ever seen.
“We are troubled by every one of the President’s demands but especially those proposals that will make it more difficult for immigrants to seek asylum, target and criminalize unaccompanied children arriving at our borders, and enact punitive measures against so-called ‘sanctuary cities.’ Even for an administration that has distinguished itself for its singular cruelty toward immigrants, the proposals released this weekend are outrageous. The fates of our Dreamers who came to the United States as child immigrants and who have been granted relief through DACA are not to be horse-traded and treated like some political bargaining chip. We are talking about the lives and futures of hundreds of thousands of young men and women who are Americans in everything but the law.
“Congress currently has before it a bipartisan DREAM Act that not only provides relief from the threat of deportation for these young people, but also offers a pathway to citizenship. The Hispanic Federation and its network of Latino community-based organizations call on Congress to reject President Trump’s proposal and instead support the DREAM Act. We will work tirelessly over the next several weeks and months with fellow immigrant service organizations, legal counsel, and advocates across the country to oppose President Trump’s continued assault on immigrants and to support members of Congress who understand the need to support Dreamers and their families with a legislative solution that is workable, humane, and just.”
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About Hispanic Federation The mission of the Hispanic Federation is to empower and advance the Hispanic community. The Hispanic Federation provides grants and services to a broad network of Latino non-profit agencies serving the most vulnerable members of the Hispanic community and advocates nationally with respect to the vital issues of education, health, immigration, economic empowerment, civic engagement and the environment. For more information, please visit www.hispanicfederation.org.
