Washington, DC (May 20, 2008) – Today, Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX) made the following statement regarding Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) raids during a Workforce Protections Subcommittee hearing in the House of Representatives. The hearing focused on recent ICE workplace raids and their effects on communities, including their impact on children, most of whom are American citizens.
“Thank you for allowing me to join the Subcommittee today. I am deeply grateful to Chairwoman Woolsey for calling this hearing to highlight the terrible impact that the policy of stepped up immigration raids is having on children and communities.
“Today, we must ask ourselves if our enforcement only approach to immigration is worth it. It is estimated that there are approximately 4.7 million children who have an undocumented parent. Two-thirds of these children are U.S. citizens. Late last year, before the most recent round of raids and detentions, the New York Times reported that at least 13,000 children had seen one or both of their parents deported in the last two years.
“Children are paying the highest price of all for our broken immigration policies. They are being torn from their families. They live with the constant fear that any moment, their parents or loved ones will be sent away.
“Instead of working toward comprehensive immigration reform, this administration is now pursuing a policy of enforcement no matter what the cost.
“Instead of pursuing a policy that addresses real threats to our nation’s security, we have reports of ICE agents staking out Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Centers for enforcement.
“When we reauthorized Head Start, we included provisions to prioritize the expansion of migrant and seasonal head start – to keep young children out of the fields.
“ICE, in targeting these programs for enforcement activities, has created an environment of fear and intimidation. As a result families are avoiding theses centers. Children are denied high quality, safe pre-school opportunities and are often left with no option except to accompany their families to the fields.
“In April of this year, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called upon ICE to immediately stop this practice and to issue guidance to their field offices that social service programs are not to be the targets of enforcement activity. Public health and safety must take precedence over these activities. As of today, there has been no response to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus from ICE.
“Instead of requiring that immigrants legalize their status and putting the laws into place for them to do so, our policy to arrest people, place them in detention camps, and neglect their health needs and human rights.
“This represents a moral and humanitarian crisis for this nation.
“The only solution is to fix the problem. When laws are unjust, we change them. There is no justice in our current immigration policy. It is time for change.”
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