Watch Lorella Praeli, Director of Advocacy & Policy for United We Dream, on Chris Hayes today — partial transcript below. In response to a question about how Republicans will claim that tonight’s executive action is “amnesty,” Lorella tells Chris Hayes that Republicans had the chance to act, and they didn’t. Republicans are already losing it, big time, waiting for President Obama’s announcement, and Lorella warns them that their extremism could have major consequences. This is about Republicans “trying to actively deport millions,” Lorella said. “And we will make sure that the community knows that.”
Read the partial transcript below or watch her full appearance:
What I will say to [Republicans] is, create the line. There was a bill, we worked on a bipartisan bill in the Senate, it passed with overwhelming support in the Senate. It then was blocked by House Republicans, and so there is no line. The whole point of passing federal immigration reform is creating the line so that people like my mother can get in it, do everything that they need to do, come forward, and eventually become legal permanent residents. But that line doesn’t exist. The GOP has only voted to deport DREAMers, to deport young undocumented people, so they have no vision other than a mass deportation party for this country.
We know that the GOP is going to try and kill this, they’re going to try and stop this. But this is not about Republicans trying to stop the president. Everything that Republicans do, from a lawsuit, to trying to pass a bill to repeal this or block the executive action from happening, will be about Republicans trying to actively deport millions of DREAMers, and millions of parents of US citizen children. And we will make sure that the community knows that.
Our message to them has been “bring it.” We’ve actually been saying, “olé, GOP,” because they’ve been saying that this action is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. So we’re ready to have our fight. We will protect our victory just like we protected DACA…and we will continue to build so that more people will have relief and protection from deportation.
