Well it seems like we are back at the same cross-road we find ourselves every few months: we have politicians who like to talk up immigrants when it works for them but when they need to put in some work for us, they turn a blind eye.

Over the course of the last two weeks, we’ve been working really hard to highlight the case of dozens of low-priority deportations, low-priority meaning cases which the Obama administration, through John Morton, has classified as a non-removal priority. . . i.e. ‘we have better things to do then to deport these people.’ Yet, despite this promise low-priority migrants are being deported every day without any reprieve in sight. The cases we are talking about are the real stories behind the statistics we all hear about. . .  “94% of cases have no criminal record; ” “46,500 parents separated from their kids; ” and on and on.

Now we have a chance to change those statistics and it seems like none of our ‘leaders’ are around. On each case, we’ve reached out to both Senator Rubio and Senator Nelson and, to be fair, Rubio’s office has been the better of the two. However, it seems Rubio’s office is mistaking being responsive with being effective. We don’t need for you to forward our email to the local ICE field office, we know how to use email and can do that on our own. Rather, we are asking for your office to take a position on the case. To say “Senator Rubio/Nelson supports this deportation being deferred.”

This is where we find ourselves at a stand-still with both offices. Unfortunately for these folks, we don’t plan on going away. It would be great if both offices could take notes from other members of Congress who thought they too could just ignore our communities. Unfortunately for them, we don’t plan on going away, nor do the families. As it turns out, the best organizers are those whose families ICE is attempting to deport.

The reason we have deferred action right now is because we managed to make every DREAM Act-eligible person’s deportation a thorn for any Senator whose state the person lived in. When we first started fighting DREAM deportations in 2009 it was extremely difficult to get any senator to move, compared to early 2012 when we had senators meeting regularly with DHS / ICE HQ’s demanding answers. We got deferred action for DREAMers because we gained legitimacy with the congressional offices, we now need to demand the same legitimacy for our parents and all low-priority cases!

Join us in calling on Senators Nelson and Rubio to take a position on the low-priority cases coming out of the Broward Detention Center. Either these senators support the migrant community or they don’t, the choice is theirs!

Take Action: Make a call and Demand Senators Rubio and Nelson “Help Stop Low-Priority Deportations!”

Senator Rubio

Washington D.C.: 202-224-3041
Orlando: 407-254-2573

Senator Nelson:

Washington D.C.: 202-224-5274
Orlando: 407-872-7161

“Hi, I am calling to ask the Senator to take a position on low-priority deportations coming out of the Broward Detention Center. I understand that your office has been contacted by many families and that the Senator is refusing to take a position on these cases. Does the Senator support these immigrants or not?”

If Rubio or Nelson’s Office Tells You . . .

If Rubio or Nelson’s office tells you ‘we are working with the families’ tell them you just heard from DreamActivist.org that they are not taking a position of support and that doesn’t cut it.

If Rubio or Nelson’s office tells you, ‘we can’t do anything, it’s up to President Obama.’ Tell them that doesn’t mean they can’t take a position of support and help push the WhiteHouse to do the right thing. Ask them if they have issued a letter of support for any of the cases.

What Senators can do:

1.  Issue a letter, signed by the Senator, in support of Cesar Leon. The letter should specifically ask that Cesar’s deportation be stopped and his request for discretion granted. The senator must take a position on Cesar’s case.

2.  Call John Morton, the director of ICE, directly and ask that he use his discretion. Senators in many previous cases have made this call.

3.  Issue a private bill. Any senator can sponsor a private bill and as soon as one is issued it will put a hold on any deportation for the remainder of the congressional session.

If the office tells you anything different then push them to do the above. They have the power to do it, but are refusing to do it.