Activists Demand Amnesty for DREAMers' Parents at White House Protest

Activists Demand Amnesty for DREAMers' Parents at White House Protest
Tony Lee

Pro-amnesty activists protested outside the White House Wednesday, demanding that President Barack Obama give temporary amnesty to the parents of illegal immigrant children. They demonstrated while the Congressional Hispanic Caucus was urging Obama to go big on executive actions to ease deportations in a meeting inside the White House.

Local pro-amnesty activists and leaders from Casa de Maryland and Casa de Virginia, along with illegal immigrant parents, shared their stories and held up signs that read, “Don’t Deport Mom,” and “Me Too, Mr. President.” They chanted “Si Se Puede” and marched in front of the White House. Some illegal immigrant parents came to the event wearing ankle monitors they are required to wear.

There have been at least 57,000 illegal immigrant children who have crossed the border since October of last year, and federal officials expect at least 150,000 more to do so during the next fiscal year. The number of illegal immigrant children unlawfully entering the country spiked drastically after Obama enacted his temporary amnesty program for certain DREAMers in 2012. At least 560,000 DREAMers have received temporary amnesty and work permits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive action. The pro-amnesty activists insisted that they too deserved work permits and amnesty from Obama.

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