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HF Statement on the White House Immigration Plan

January 25, 2018 (New York, NY) – Hispanic Federation President José Calderón issued the following statement regarding the White House Immigration Plan.

After more than a year of claiming they had no problems with legal immigration, just the “illegal kind,” the dam of denials coming from this administration finally burst as the President and his enablers in Congress have proposed a sweeping set of “reform” proposals that lays out clearly that their end goal is to severely curtail legal immigration to our country — especially from Latin American and African nations.

Hispanic Federation and its network of member agencies strenuously oppose this plan and will work with allies in Congress and in the civil rights community to oppose these proposals at every turn.

We are especially galled that President Trump has callously decided to use the status of those young immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as bargaining chips to secure changes to our immigration laws that are logistically, economically, and morally unsound. DACA recipients deserve to stay in this country because it is their country. Their status should not be conditioned on the approval of a plan that will further endanger the lives of immigrants crossing the border, penalize immigrants from poor nations, and keep families apart.

It is incredible that an administration that prides itself on making America great is engaged in a cruel and unrelenting campaign to undo one of the truly great things about America: our role as a beacon to the world’s immigrants; no matter their background, religion, education, or skills.

Hispanic Federation has long called for progressive immigration reforms that honor our history of inclusion and our proud tradition of serving as a safe harbor for those fleeing persecution, violence, and economic oppression. The plan proposed by the White House fails to honor America and should be rejected by all Americans of good conscience.