Immigration activists call on President Obama to stop deportations

Kitty Felde/KPCC

Democratic Congresswoman Anna Eshoo

Immigration activists bring their national immigration tour back to Southern California on Saturday. They want the president to order a halt to deportations of undocumented immigrants.

Congress failed to pass immigration reform when Democrats controlled the House and Senate. With Republicans holding the House, immigration activists say there’s “no chance” it’ll happen now.

But Congresswoman Anna Eshoo of Palo Alto and other Democrats say President Obama doesn’t need legislation to stop deportations that involve families. Eshoo says the executive branch has that power now.

"The yardstick by which the president can measure these, he can set aside the deportations, he can define what hardship is," says Eshoo. "What is the point of ripping families apart? It’s not what we do in this country."

Eshoo paid tribute to the Korean college student who’d lived here since he was 10 – and the mom whose husband was sent back to Cameroon. Eshoo said these immigrants work hard, pay taxes, and love this country.

"We are here today to speak to the hope that prevails, that President Obama will use the discretionary tools that he has, that actually exist in the immigration law to stop these deportations because of what they are doing to people," says Eshoo. "These are families, they are not criminals."

About half the undocumented immigrants deported in the first half of this fiscal year were criminal aliens.

Immigration activists will bring their “Campaign for American Children and Families” tour to the Church on the Way in Van Nuys on Saturday morning.