November 21, 2014
Today all of us at CAIR Coalition carry mixed emotions as we study the details of President Obama’s new executive action, announced last night. Our hearts are full with relief and joy for the millions who will benefit from the President’s announcement and find some measure of comfort in the safety it provides. Yet we are disappointed and sad for those the announcement will not help, those who must remain in the shadows or face deportation. This group includes many of the vulnerable men, women and children for whom CAIR Coalition advocates on a daily basis.
First, the new program does not address the lack of due process and fairness protections for long-time residents facing deportation on the basis of a criminal conviction. President Obama has stated that his action will focus deportation resources on “felons, not families.” But our staff and the immigrants and families we serve know that these categories are not mutually exclusive. Every day we provide legal services to individuals who have criminal convictions but also have families. Their convictions – sometimes decades-old – will not blunt the pain and desolation their U.S. citizen spouses and children will feel when they are deported and permanently separated from their loved ones. Community safety is a complex notion, and we underestimate at our own peril the very real risk to our communities that occurs as the result of separating families. When long-time residents are deported, they leave behind U.S. citizen children who are frequently shuttled into the foster care system or become reliant on the public safety net. We will continue to fight for due process and fairness for these men and women, many of whom face immigration detention and deportation without even the opportunity to tell their story to a judge.
Nor will the President’s action help the many children and families arriving at our border today and in recent months, fleeing horrific violence throughout Central America. It is disappointing to hear the President refer to these refugee children and mothers as illegal border crossers when in fact they are presenting themselves in large numbers to border officials, asking for the protection they desperately need. These children and families face pervasive violence and brutality if they return to their homes, yet their status as recent border crossers places them outside the scope of this new program. We will continue to strive to ensure that these children receive the safety, protections, and access to legal services they deserve.
Today we celebrate with the millions who now look forward to a future in the United States without fear. We congratulate the community leaders and bold activists who made last night’s speech a possibility. And yet we wait, hopeful that our duly elected leaders will find the courage to enact reform that ensures fairness, due process, and justice for all immigrants living and working and striving to be part of our nation.
