The following is a press release from United We Dream:
See pictures and video of event here.
This afternoon, more than 40 Dreamers and immigrant workers from United We Dream, the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice and America’s Voice held a press conference in front of the White House, and delivered President Obama a gift on his birthday: 75,000 petition signatures from people across the country demanding he go big on immigration and provide work permits and deportation relief to millions in our community.
Throughout the year, Dreamers and the immigrant community have pressured the President to act, and will continue demanding he go big on immigration and build on the successes of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA), and provide work permits and driver’s licenses to millions more.
Greisa Martinez, organizer with United We Dream issued the following statement,
Today, as the President celebrates his birthday, we’re asking he reflect on his legacy. We’re asking him to reflect on the two million people that have been deported under his administration, including my father, and we’re demanding that he stand on the side of our community.
This is his chance for the President to build on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, one of that benefitted more than 600,000 young people by giving them work permits and protection from deportation.
My mother still lives under the perpetual fear of being deported and it is for her, and for the millions of others in our community, that we are demanding the President to go big on affirmative relief.”
Republicans are currently trying to bully the President through their harsh rhetoric against the immigrant community, with their calls to deport Dreamers, our parents and refugee children.
We’re calling on the President to stand strong against the Republican party, who has been hijacked by right-wing extremists whose only solution to our community’s moral crisis and the refugee crisis on the border is to deport, deport, and deport.
