A group of Democratic legislators, such as Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Ilhan Omar, and organizations for the rights of immigrants today returned to the charge and demanded the disappearance of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), the government agency in charge of deportations. from the country.
“I promise not to approve a single dollar for ICE, an agency like this, which repeatedly violates human rights, does not deserve a dime,” said congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a press conference in the vicinity of the Capitol.
Ocasio-Cortez made these statements accompanied by the groups United We Dream, CASA Maryland, Indivisible, Move On and the Center for Popular Democracy, which organized this act under the slogan “Withdraw funds from the deportation force.”
The leaders of these organizations today delivered more than 200,000 signatures with this petition to the representatives of the Congress.
United We Dream’s deputy executive director, Greisa Martinez, said that this is a “life or death” issue for immigrants who arrive in the country through the southern border.
“Our mothers, fathers, brothers and friends are being detained and killed by ICE, Congress has to take the funds from them,” Martinez said at the conference, which criticized President Donald Trump asking for more money for that agency.
In this sense, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that Trump, who affirms that he supports migrants legally arriving in the country, does not like any type of immigration.
“It’s a lie that Trump likes legal immigration Since his arrival, he has been cutting back and eliminating legal immigration programs, such as the visa lottery, family reunification, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and DACA ( Deferred Action program), “added the legislator.
The representative of the Bronx and Queens appeared in that act along with other new congressmen, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley.
Omar, who represents the fifth district of Minnesota, argued that the new Congress “looks beyond policies and respects people.”
The congresswoman argued that families who come to the southern border do so in search of a “safer” future for their family.
“Even on the border and in the process to get here, these families live in more secure situations than in their own countries, I understand their fear, pain and complications,” said the first Somali lawmaker in Congress.
In that press conference, the activists recalled the story of the Salvadoran Roxana Santos, who was “illegally” arrested by the Maryland sheriff’s office, after being questioned about her legal status, and held by ICE for 45 days.
A federal appeals court recently ruled that his arrest and detention were unconstitutional and held the government responsible for damages and prejudice.
In statements to Efe, Santos said he was “happy” to have been able to return with his children, but noted that the “trauma” of having been detained will always remain in his head.
The migrant, who has the advice of the CASA Maryland organization, explained that she continues to “have nightmares and listen to the sound that the chains” made when she was arrested.
“No one should have to endure these conditions,” lamented Santos.
The demand for new Democratic congressmen comes months after numerous civil rights groups and political leaders, such as Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, began a campaign to demand the demise of ICE.
Criticism against ICE has increased in the last year after Trump’s government launched its controversial “zero tolerance” strategy against immigration on the border with Mexico in April, in which authorities separated more than 3,000 of their parents. minors, including babies. (EFEUSA) .-
