Md. Immigration Group Holds Protest Tuesday
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Members of CASA Maryland are among groups across the country launching protests Tuesday.
Pat Warren reports the protest centers on a promise from President Barack Obama.
One of the president's immigration programs was scheduled to take effect Tuesday but it's tied up in federal court.
Chanting "Here to stay," about two dozen supporters of the president's immigration order staged a protest outside the Federal Building in Baltimore Tuesday. This was the day people like Karen Fiallos should have been able to apply for deferred status under the executive order issued by the president last year, which shields many parents from children born in the US from deportation.
"We will keep focusing enforcement on actual threats to our security, but that means felons, not families. That means criminals, not children. That means gang members, not moms who are trying to put food on the table for their kids," Obama said.
But the president's order to allow parents to apply for deferred status is blocked in a federal court ruling that allows a lawsuit filed by 26 states to go forward, leaving thousands of Maryland families feeling stranded. Fiallos, who is in deportation process, now has a 12-year-old daughter.
"She is a single mother so her daughter is very depressed that she might lose her mother," said a translator for Fiallos. The process has been going on since 2010.
Congressman Elijah Cummings and Senator Ben Cardin have expressed frustration at the inability of Congress to legislate new immigration policy. The Obama administration has appealed the injunction, but in the meantime, Fiallos' case goes forward.
"It was a huge relief. She was so relieved leaving her last visit with immigration because they told her come back next time with the application. Now her next interview is next month, it's fastly approaching and she's very fearful because she doesn't have the application," the translator said.
Tens of thousands of Maryland families are estimated to qualify for deferred action. The president's order would assure that these adults go to work legally and pay taxes.
Similar demonstrations were scheduled around the country.