Senator Feinstein, Why Are You Deporting U.S. Citizens?

by Prerna Lal · 2009-11-03 13:07:00 UTC
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Since the young promigrant blogosphere and twitterverse is asking this question, it felt prudent to bring attention to this atrocity.

During the past decade, 109,000 parents deported had U.S. citizen children who belong here in the United States. Will the Mejia-Perez family become another statistic in our broken immigration system?

The Mejia-Perez family, hailing from Novato California, is facing its last few days in the United States after living here for close to 20 years. It is a mixed-status family with two U.S. citizen children, Helen and Dulce. Gilbert Mejia, a DREAM-eligible youth and currently going through asylum proceedings, gets to stay for another year. The rest of the family, including Helen and Dulce, will be deported to Guatemala this Thursday.

Thus far, ICE has refused to take action. One can hardly blame ICE, given the bad morale and behavior in the agency. They have their hands full with their own incompetency and various criminal activities, not to mention subsequent lawsuits. And besides, they have deported more U.S. citizens wrongly than they can track down.

That leaves Senator Barbara Boxer and Senator Dianne Feinstein from California who could introduce a private bill on behalf of the family. One would be lucky to get a response regarding anything from Senator Boxer unless it involves wildfires. Senator Feinstein is generally more responsive but she is also ignoring the calls and emails directed at her office. It is up to you to step up the pressure and ask her why she is so keen on deporting children who are United States citizens in light of Congressional failure to pass immigration reform.

Obama points to Congress while Congress points to Obama for much-needed leadership on immigration. Neither side wants to take on the issue. Is this the 'change' you can believe in? Is this what you voted for when you voted President Barack Obama into office? We need more than just lip-service.

Here is what you can do to help the Mejia-Perez family:

Sign onto this Change.org petition here.

Call Senator Feinstein

D.C.: (202) 224-3841 

San Francisco: (415) 393-0707 

Los Angeles: (310) 914-7300

Sample script: “I am calling to ask why Senator Feinstein is deporting United States citizens. Helen and Dulce are US Citizens by birth and sending them back to Guatemala is wrong and atrocious! Please introduce a private bill to stop the deportation of the Mejia-Perez family.”

(Photo Credit: DreamActivist)

Prerna Lal is co-founder and Online Coordinator of DreamActivist and a board member of Immigration Equality. She is currently attending George Washington University Law School.
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