The Latino community in Los
Angeles Wednesday called on the White House to carry out immigration
reform so that immigrant fathers will not be deported from the
United States as a way to mark the coming Father's Day.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
(CHIRLA), the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), the Los
Angeles Family Unity Commission and immigrant fathers held a "Dreams
of Our Fathers" press conference to honor fathers and called on the
Obama Administration to keep families united, grant immigration
relief to students, families and workers, and end programs that
encourage racial profiling such as "Secure Communities."
Jorge-Mario Cabrera, communication director of CHIRLA, told
Xinhua that on Father's Day last year on June 17, the White House
issued a memo which directs immigration officials to review 300,000
deportation cases and prioritize only those who are a danger to
society.
But so far, 99 percent of the cases have been denied, Cabrera
said, adding that has made tens of thousands of families without
fathers or mothers on the coming Father's Day.
"The Latino and Asian communities are disappointed at President
Barack Obama's immigration policy," said Cabrera.
"The Latino community wants to take the opportunity to call for
attention to the issue that will have an impact on millions of
immigrants," said Cabrera.
Over a dozen fathers showed up at the press conference. One
father held a sign reading: "Obama: You are a Dad too." Another sign
says: "Don't separate our families."
Statistics show that the U.S. immigration authorities have
sustained a fast pace of deportations during Obama's presidency,
removing nearly 400,000 foreigners in each of the last three years,
with Latino communities taking the brunt of those deportations.
Obama enjoyed strong support from the immigration community,
especially from the Latino community in his election campaign four
years ago because of his pledge on immigration reform.
However, four years later, White House officials have concluded
that there is no chance before this year's presidential election to
pass the immigration overhaul that Obama promised, which would
include paths to legal status for illegal immigrants.
In his bid for the second term, Obama continues to roll out
efforts to woo Latino voters, but Latino and immigrant advocates say
Obama's message will be hard to swallow without better attempts to
reform the administration's deportation policies.
The Obama administration has pledged to focus its deportation
efforts only on illegal immigrants who could be considered the
"worst of the worst," as some have put it, and in November last
year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began reviewing about
300,000 backlogged immigration cases.
However, data released by the department show that fewer than 10
percent of the undocumented immigrants qualify for relief from the
system, or "prosecutorial discretion."
Polls show Obama has a strong lead over his Republican competitor
Mitt Romney among Latino voters. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal/
Telemundo poll from last month found that Obama led Romney 61 to 27
percent among registered Latino voters nationally. However, just 68
percent of Latino voters expressed high interest in the upcoming
election, in comparison to 81 percent of all voters.
Republicans have used the Obama administration's high deportation
rates to chip away at his standing among Latino voters.
Republicans have launched a full-scale assault on Obama's Latino
support by attacking him on the economy and immigration. Some are
even calling him "the most anti-immigrant president" ever.
The Latino vote has been referred to as the "sleeping giant."
According to a report released by the Center for American Progress
(CAP) recently, in eight states, the number of potential Latino
voters is greater than the margin in the 2008 presidential election.
According to CAP, California's nearly 4.5 million potential
Latino voters surpass by four times the one million voters that were
the margin of victory in the 2008 presidential election.
An estimated 21.5 million Latino voters are eligible to vote,
with an additional 8.1 million green-card holders that would have
been eligible to vote if they get naturalized and registered before
late October, according to CAP.
Obama has spent about $1.7 million on Spanish language ads
since mid-April in Florida, Nevada and Colorado, according to SMG-Delta, a media firm that tracks campaign advertising.
