“He won in 2010 because of the Latino vote. Senator Reid is one of our biggest supporters for dreamers."
A group of activists who are illegally in the United States hosted a conference call on Friday responding to the lawsuit filed this week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The agents claim that President Barack Obama’s directive to allow certain illegal aliens to stay in the country forces them to violate federal law.
Rafael Lopez, who said he was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child, praised Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for his support of the Dream Act, legislation that has repeatedly failed to get congressional support that would grant amnesty to Lopez and approximately 1.7 million other illegal aliens.
By Penny Starr
August 24, 2012
CNS News
“Senator Reid, our Senate Majority Leader is one of our biggest supporters for dreamers,” Lopez said.
“He won in 2010 because of the Latino vote,” Lopez said.
On June 15, Obama announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would not deport certain DREAM Act–eligible undocumented youth. Under a directive from the Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, these youth will be given temporary permission to stay in the U.S., or would quality for “deferred action” on their immigration status.
As CNSNews.com reported earlier, "The Directive commands ICE officers to violate federal law ... commands ICE officers to violate their oaths to uphold and support federal law, violates the Administrative Procedure Act, unconstitutionally usurps and encroaches upon the legislative powers of Congress, as defined in Article I of the United States Constitution, and violates the obligation of the executive branch to faithfully execute the law, as required by Article II, Section 3, of the United States Constitution,” the lawsuit says.
Lopez and the other self-described “dreamers” who took part in the conference call said people who oppose the Dream Act “want to make life as difficult as possible for undocumented immigrants.”
Illegal aliens who live in Nevada are “very fortunate,” Lopez said.
“We’re very fortunate here in Nevada,” he said. “Our elected officials are really acceptable.
“And we have worked very hard to keep our elected officials so pretty much any anti-immigrant law that even comes up in Congress, it’s quickly shot down,” Lopez said.
When CNSNews.com asked how the activists can support elected officials when illegal aliens cannot legally vote, they responded that they work to register people to vote who support the Dream Act.
Fight Illegal Immigration With ALIPAC