January 7, 2016: Latino Leaders Urge President Obama to Halt ICE Raids on Central American Refugee Families

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January 7, 2016

LATINO LEADERS URGE PRESIDENT OBAMA TO HALT ICE RAIDS ON CENTRAL AMERICAN REFUGEE FAMILIES
NHLA calls on President Obama to designate Temporary Protected Status to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and to help refugees fleeing pervasive violence in those nations

Washington, D.C. - The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 40 of the nation's preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, issued a letter to President Obama urging him to end the ongoing raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the homes of refugee families from Central America. The organization also urged the President to treat the families as valid asylum seekers by designating Temporary Protected Status to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The text of the letter can be found here.

"Raiding the homes of families who pose no security threat is deplorable. This action by the Obama Administration is made far worse when coupled with its decision to single out immigrants from Central America for unequal and aggressive treatment. The United States should be a safe haven for those escaping horrific violence around the world, but instead the Administration has ignored pleas to recognize families from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras as the refugees they are," said Hector Sanchez, NHLA Chair and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

"These officially-sanctioned home invasions, already legally and morally dubious, become utterly indefensible in the hypocritical context of a glaring double standard for refugees," stated Thomas A. Saenz, NHLA Vice Chair and President and General Counsel of MALDEF. "The Administration's inconsistent stance toward deserving refugees fleeing violence in Syria and those equally deserving women and children fleeing violence in Central America is incomprehensible except as an ongoing example of entrenched anti-Latino discrimination in our immigration system. Moreover, at this point late in the Obama Administration, instead of a doubling down on bad policy, we should expect a long overdue end to the self-evidently futile politics of right-wing appeasement in the form of overzealous ICE enforcement activity."

“‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,’ but not your Central American women and children fleeing rampant violence in their homelands. That seems to be the message from the Obama administration. These raids, this focus on separating families, the turning back of those in desperate need of refuge by the White House is inconsistent with the values this administration espouses and that we hold dear as Americans. These measures are simply indefensible and they must end immediately," stated José Calderón, President of the Hispanic Federation.

“The implementation of mass raids in communities across the country is deplorable. We’ve seen this troubling, enforcement-only approach before and it has not worked to address the serious issues with our broken immigration system. At a time when we are witnessing a global refugee crisis – with women and children embarking on frightening and treacherous journeys – the use of such harsh tactics compromises the basic principles of human decency, due process, and remains inconsistent with this country’s values and heritage. There is simply no proper way to round up families and children, and to continue doing so can only result in increased fear, separation of families, broken communities and a shameful legacy,” said Jessica González-Rojas, Executive Director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.

“Instead of wasting tax-payer dollars on raids or putting children and families in privately-run, government paid detention facilities, we should be providing support and protection to these children and families,” stated Oscar Chacon, Executive Director of Alianza Americas. “Given the fact that political asylum has proven to be an inadequate mechanism to ensure humanitarian protection for the majority of these children and families, President Obama should grant protection to these children and families via Temporary Protected Status or other forms of class-wide administrative relief. Over the longer term, we should be working with civil society actors and governments in Central America to fix the deeply broken economic, social and political conditions in these countries, so that children and families no longer have to flee their countries in search of safe haven.”

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Established in 1991, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) brings together Hispanic leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. For more information, please visit www.nationalhispanicleadership.org and follow @NHLAgenda.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

| Teresa Acuña | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (202) 508-6917 |
| Brenda Arredondo | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (202) 587-4945 |