Photos courtesy of Not1More
DREAMers with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) risking arrest and deportation for civil disobedience action to halt removal of fellow nationals from the U.S.
By H. Nelson Goodson
December 16, 2013
Fairfax, Virginia - On Monday, "a group of 9 protestors just blocked the entrance and exit of deportation vans at the Fairfax, Virginia Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, holding the President accountable for the thousands of deportations expected before Congress returns from Winter break," Notonemoredeportation dot org reported. Among those chaining themselves in protest and blocking the ICE facility exit was Blanca Hernández, a DREAMer and a DACA recipient. Hernández is one of many undocumented immigrants that have received federal work permits and a temperary stay from being detained and deported under President Barack H. Obama's DACA program. She has joined the immigration reform movement as many other DACA recipients have and are now risking their newly temporary acquired legal status to remain in the U.S. without fear of deportation.
In order to qualify for DACA, DREAMers must not have a criminal record or a misdemeanor sentence of one year, which will automatically set forth deportation proceedings as legal permanent residence card holders fall into when in violation of a federal law that allows ICE to deportation those non-cifizens who are legally in the country for minor violations.
Blanca Hernández, one of the protesters chaining herself to the ICE office this morning says, "I have DACA, but people in my family and so many other people in my community are excluded. Its only fair for everybody to have the same opportunity because we all came here searching for the same thing," Notonemoredeportation reported.
The group is one of dozens that have taken direct action to block a few hundred of some of the 400,000 of Obama's yearly deportation qoutas. Hernández who has been in the country for 24 years as an undocument immigrant and other protesters believe Obama has the power to halt deportations. They want Obama to halt deportations and provide relief to families immediately as he did with DACA beneficiaries.
Hernández says, "For the president to say that he can't do anything is the biggest lie he can tell the community. During his electoral campaign he said he was ready to take action. I do this to remind him that he needs to keep that promise, and for all the families that continue to be separated, hoping that it stops."
No DACA recipient has lost their temperary legal status and deported as of yet for protesting during immigration reform action and civil disobedience, but that can change.
All DACA beneficiaries are at risk of deportation in the future, if a non-friendly immigrant president is elected. That president's administration can void Obama's temperary DACA program and engage in the deportation of those undocumented immigrants that signed up for DACA relief.
Last Friday, the GOP leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives ended their 2013 voting session without moving forward and voting on an immigration reform bill. The U.S. Senate passed their own version of an immigration bill, but it will automatically died at the end of the year due to no action by the House. The House failure to pass a bill will linger for the next six to eight years, depending who will control both the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and the White House.
Unless, immigrant rights groups, DACA beneficiaries, supporters for immigration reform take direct national action by managing their spending and buying power of an estimated $2.5T economic financial input in the U.S. to influence change and immigration reform, they are destine to repeat the 2013 Congressional and presidential failure to pass immigration reform in the next decade at least.
