Latino Leadership Calls On President Obama To Lead Immigration Reform

By Enid Calo 1-22-2013

WEBN staff photo

Imagine leaving your house for the day and being afraid that you won’t ever be  able to return. That is the case for the undocumented immigrants living here in the United States.

Thomas Saenz is trying to change that situation especially for Latinos who are the largest group of undocumented workers.  They are being deported in large numbers under the Obama Administration. Saenz is the President and General Counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund).  It is a nonprofit organization that promotes the civil rights of all Latinos living in the United States.

In Washington, D.C. Saenz told WEBN Boston that he is calling for action because many of those being deported are “peaceful migrants living here with families in many cases raising United States citizen children.”

He went on to say these immigrants are contributing to the economy and society and are not violating laws, therefore they should be granted legal protection.

The ones being hurt the most seem to be children who came here with their parents.  The so called Dream Act would allow them to stay in this country, study at colleges and universities, get jobs, and later earn American citizenships.

Saenz  believes that the Dream Act will help the nation’s workforce because these students are “dedicated, hardworking, intelligent students who were basically educated in the United States and are like other United States citizens except for the fact that they happen to have been born somewhere else.”

Saenz and the Latino community want President Obama make immigration reform a reality.

“We have to make sure that we have an immigration system that is fair and provides due process at every step of the way before we end up with a situation at some point in the future where we’re again deporting hundreds of thousands of peaceful contributing immigrants,” said Saenz.