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'Stop the Deportations': Protesters Call for Immigrant Rights at Senate Hearing
Immigrants to Obama Administration: 'You are destroying our communities'
Feb 13, 2013
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was interrupted at today's Senate Immigration Hearing as she boasted that U.S. borders have "never been stronger." The protesters who interrupted the hearing on multiple occasions demanded that the administration cut deportations and focus on the human rights of undocumented immigrants.
The Obama administration deported a record 409,000 undocumented immigrants last year, according to Napolitano. The administration has deported roughly 1.6 million people in the past four years.
At the hearing GOP Sens. Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and John Cornyn (Texas) argued with Napolitano saying that while border security has improved in recent years, the Obama administration has not deported enough or kept enough immigrants out.
The hearing contained a wide variety of speakers, many of who called for immigration reform, but most fell short of criticizing the volume of deportations under Obama's past and future policies.
Protesters interrupted the hearing several times, chanting and waving banners against deportations. Interrupting Napolitano, one protester yelled, "you are destroying our communities" as others began to chant, "Stop the deportations."
At one point a group stood and silently turned their backs to the senators, with signs on their backs reading "human rights" and "immigrant rights."
Among other testimonies at the hearing, however, was Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist who acknowledged his undocumented status in a high-profile piece in The New York Times Magazine in June 2011. Vargas argued vehemently for stronger immigrant rights, asking the senators, "What do you want to do with me?" and "How do you define American?"
"Too often, we're treated as abstractions, faceless and nameless, mere subjects of debate rather than individuals with families, hopes, fears, and dreams," Vargas told committee members. "We dream of a path to citizenship so we can actively participate in our American democracy."
He added:
[Immigrants] dream of not being separated from our families and our loved ones, regardless of sexual orientation, no matter our skill set. [...]
This government has deported more than 1.6 million people, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters in the past four years. [...]
We talk about immigration and enforcement as if we're talking about alien people from Mars and not people whose lives and families are being torn apart everyday.
Protesters interrupt Senate hearing on immigration reform:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was interrupted at today's Senate Immigration Hearing as she boasted that U.S. borders have "never been stronger." The protesters who interrupted the hearing on multiple occasions demanded that the administration cut deportations and focus on the human rights of undocumented immigrants.
The Obama administration deported a record 409,000 undocumented immigrants last year, according to Napolitano. The administration has deported roughly 1.6 million people in the past four years.
At the hearing GOP Sens. Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and John Cornyn (Texas) argued with Napolitano saying that while border security has improved in recent years, the Obama administration has not deported enough or kept enough immigrants out.
The hearing contained a wide variety of speakers, many of who called for immigration reform, but most fell short of criticizing the volume of deportations under Obama's past and future policies.
Protesters interrupted the hearing several times, chanting and waving banners against deportations. Interrupting Napolitano, one protester yelled, "you are destroying our communities" as others began to chant, "Stop the deportations."
At one point a group stood and silently turned their backs to the senators, with signs on their backs reading "human rights" and "immigrant rights."
Among other testimonies at the hearing, however, was Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist who acknowledged his undocumented status in a high-profile piece in The New York Times Magazine in June 2011. Vargas argued vehemently for stronger immigrant rights, asking the senators, "What do you want to do with me?" and "How do you define American?"
"Too often, we're treated as abstractions, faceless and nameless, mere subjects of debate rather than individuals with families, hopes, fears, and dreams," Vargas told committee members. "We dream of a path to citizenship so we can actively participate in our American democracy."
He added:
[Immigrants] dream of not being separated from our families and our loved ones, regardless of sexual orientation, no matter our skill set. [...]
This government has deported more than 1.6 million people, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters in the past four years. [...]
We talk about immigration and enforcement as if we're talking about alien people from Mars and not people whose lives and families are being torn apart everyday.
Protesters interrupt Senate hearing on immigration reform:
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was interrupted at today's Senate Immigration Hearing as she boasted that U.S. borders have "never been stronger." The protesters who interrupted the hearing on multiple occasions demanded that the administration cut deportations and focus on the human rights of undocumented immigrants.
The Obama administration deported a record 409,000 undocumented immigrants last year, according to Napolitano. The administration has deported roughly 1.6 million people in the past four years.
At the hearing GOP Sens. Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and John Cornyn (Texas) argued with Napolitano saying that while border security has improved in recent years, the Obama administration has not deported enough or kept enough immigrants out.
The hearing contained a wide variety of speakers, many of who called for immigration reform, but most fell short of criticizing the volume of deportations under Obama's past and future policies.
Protesters interrupted the hearing several times, chanting and waving banners against deportations. Interrupting Napolitano, one protester yelled, "you are destroying our communities" as others began to chant, "Stop the deportations."
At one point a group stood and silently turned their backs to the senators, with signs on their backs reading "human rights" and "immigrant rights."
Among other testimonies at the hearing, however, was Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist who acknowledged his undocumented status in a high-profile piece in The New York Times Magazine in June 2011. Vargas argued vehemently for stronger immigrant rights, asking the senators, "What do you want to do with me?" and "How do you define American?"
"Too often, we're treated as abstractions, faceless and nameless, mere subjects of debate rather than individuals with families, hopes, fears, and dreams," Vargas told committee members. "We dream of a path to citizenship so we can actively participate in our American democracy."
He added:
[Immigrants] dream of not being separated from our families and our loved ones, regardless of sexual orientation, no matter our skill set. [...]
This government has deported more than 1.6 million people, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters in the past four years. [...]
We talk about immigration and enforcement as if we're talking about alien people from Mars and not people whose lives and families are being torn apart everyday.
Protesters interrupt Senate hearing on immigration reform:
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