Thousands of Central American men, women, and children in the US are being rounded up by the Department of Homeland Security and deported back to their home countries, in what’s being described by a leading presidential candidate as an “inhumane” assault on vulnerable families.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday called on President Obama to “immediately end” the mass raids being carried out across the country. The operations are targeting families who in recent years escaped violence gripping their home countries–namely Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
“Raids are not the answer,” Sanders wrote in the missive to the president. He called on Obama to instead grant families Temporary Protective Status—a designation that would shield them from deportation and allow their breadwinners to find work in the states.
“These mothers fled because of gangs murdering their husbands, targeting their sons for recruitment, and threatening their daughters with sexual violence,” Sanders also wrote, adding that a “death sentence awaits” many of them back home.
Since 2014 more than 100,000 Central American families have fled to the US, putting a strain on immigration courts. As a result, the refugees have been left without proper legal representation, and DHS has ordered deportation for 80 percent of them.
Over the weekend, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency–a DHS agency–detained and deported nearly 120 undocumented residents of Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia.
A spokesperson for Sanders’ rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said this week that that Clinton “believes we should not be conducting large-scale raids and roundups that sow fear and division in our communities.” The representative added that “Clinton believes the United States should give refuge to people fleeing persecution, and should be especially attentive to the needs of children.”
Congressional Democrats have also condemned the administration’s actions as hostile toward refugee families, with prominent latino lawmakers leading the charge.
“Invading homes is inhumane and adds to the trauma of these families fleeing violence and oppression,” said Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) on Wednesday. Her colleague, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), went further and called for a probe into the matter.
“I am seeking answers from Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson as to why this policy is needed, why it was launched to instill fear in immigrant households over the Christmas, New Year’s and Three Kings holidays, and why family detention centers I have been trying to close are now filling up with new families awaiting deportation,” he said Tuesday.
In a statement this week, Secretary Jeh Johnson claimed his department’s recent actions “should come as no surprise.”
“I have said publicly for months that individuals who constitute enforcement priorities, including families and unaccompanied children, will be removed,” he said.
