Thread: Dianne Feinstein rips Trump for ‘cruel’ deportation of illegals

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times - Friday, August 11, 2017

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, on the heels of a deportation that led to a separated family, issued a scathing statement against President Donald Trump, suggesting his border controls were above and beyond what’s necessary for national security.

She also called him really, really mean, and said that she might tell his mother on him if he doesn’t cut it out.

“The cruel and arbitrary nature of President Trump’s immigration enforcement policies is captured in the heartbreaking story of the Sanchez family,” Feinstein wrote in a statement reported by The Hill.

Who are the Sanchezes?

A husband-wife couple, Maria Mendoza-Sanchez and Eusebio Sanchez, who’ve been living in America illegally for 23 years. They were just given three months to pack up and go back to Mexico, and take their 12-year-old son with them.

They decided to leave their older children, all girls, ages 16, 21 and 23, in the United States.

And because Maria has been working as a nurse, and because she and her husband have been in the United States for so long, the legal citizens of this country are supposed to feel sorry for them and let them stay.

“It’s supposed to be that if you assimilate to the culture of the country, you pay taxes, you work, you graduate college, you have a better chance,” Maria told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It was supposed to be, but I did all that and I’m still in this situation. I just don’t understand.”

Well, here’s some help with that: It’s called breaking the law.

Virginia Kice, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the couple’s case has been reviewed numerous times over the last 15 years, and they’ve not been deemed suitable to stay in the country.

“The courts have consistently held that neither of these individuals has a legal basis to remain in the U.S.,” she said, citing the fact this administration has made no secret about its intent to enforce border laws.

“When we fail to enforce those laws,” she went on, “what message are we sending to the millions of people who respect that process and are waiting outside the U.S. now for visas that will enable them to enter the country lawfully?”

Quite right.

Just because the past administration was loose with law, and handed out stays of deportation like candy, or worse, turned blind eyes toward illegals, doesn’t mean the situation hasn’t changed under this new White House. In fact, Trump was pretty clear on the campaign trail it would change.

As the Chronicle noted, the Sanchez couple illegally entered America in the early 1990s, and tried to obtain asylum. They fought in court for a decade or so for their green cards, but were denied in 2012. Starting in 2013, under Barack Obama’s administration, they were given one-year stays. But in 2015 — again, under Obama’s White House — they were told they were low-level deportation considerations and that they didn’t need stays any longer.

Sounds like the previous administration’s immigration folk gave out some bad advice, yes? Bad advice that went like this:

Nobody’s watching you. Nobody’s going to deport you. So do what you want.


Well, that’s advice the Sanchez couple didn’t have to take. But they did. And now, they have to leave.

“Maria and Eusebio Sanchez have lived in this country for more than 20 years,” Feinstein wrote. “They are hardworking parents raising four children, three [of whom are] citizens and one protected by DACA. They have no criminal records. They pay taxes, own their home and contribute to this country. These are the kind of people we should welcome into the United States with open arms.”

Except — they’re illegals. They’re lawbreakers. And as this administration correctly points out: There’s a message that comes from welcoming lawbreakers, and it’s not one that helps secure the safety of the lawful citizens of the United States.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...uel-deportati/

By Hamed Aleaziz
August 10, 2017

Sen. Dianne Feinstein called Thursday for the federal government to reverse the deportation of an Oakland nurse and her husband, saying their removal after more than two decades in the country revealed the “cruel and arbitrary nature” of President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Responding to a front-page Chronicle story about Maria Mendoza-Sanchez and Eusebio Sanchez — who plan to depart for Mexico on Tuesday with their 12-year-old son to start a new life, while leaving behind three older daughters who have legal status — Feinstein went to the family’s home for an afternoon meeting to discuss their plight.

“These are the kind of people we should welcome into the United States with open arms,” the California Democrat said. “Tearing this family apart doesn’t make anyone safer, it only places incredible hardship on their three children who will remain behind, forced to navigate their lives without their parents.”

A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, defended the deportation order, saying the family’s case had gone through a lengthy review in immigration courts, and that “neither of these individuals has a legal basis to remain in the U.S.”

But Feinstein said the removal of Mendoza-Sanchez and her husband, despite their deep ties to the country and lack of a criminal record, “exemplifies that it’s nearly impossible for undocumented immigrants to get right with the law when they want to do so.”

“The Mendoza-Sanchez family has tried for two decades to obtain legal status,” said Feinstein, whose office has supported the family’s efforts in the past to remain in the country. “The deportation of Maria and Eusebio would be a loss for the Oakland community. The equities of their case should be given full consideration so that this family has an opportunity to stay together.”

As Feinstein walked up to the family’s home, she hugged Mendoza-Sanchez, who cried and said, “Thank you so much.” The meeting lasted about an hour, and afterward the senator said of the case, “It’s everything that the law ought to have some mercy with.”

Feinstein said that when the Senate comes back into session in September, she will introduce what is known as a private bill in a bid to help the family gain permanent residence. But such bills are rarely signed into law, and it’s unclear if the move would help Mendoza-Sanchez and her husband. Feinstein said the family will probably have to leave the country now, but hopes they’ll be able to return in the future.

“This is a mistake,” Feinstein said. “This shouldn’t happen.”

California’s other Democratic senator, Kamala Harris, was looking into how she might intervene in the matter as well. A representative said Harris’ office “will continue to work with the family’s attorney to explore all options available to keep this family together. They deserve the opportunity to fully contribute to the country they call home.”

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said in a statement that she also had sought to help the family. She said the president’s “heartless immigration policies represent a betrayal of our core American values. I condemn this decision.”

Immigration officials told Mendoza-Sanchez and her husband in May that they had three months to make arrangements to leave for Mexico, a country they last visited more than 20 years ago.

They complied, but decided the best option was to split up the family, taking along their son — who is a U.S. citizen by birth — while leaving behind daughters who are 16, 21 and 23. The two younger daughters are also U.S. citizens by birth, and their 23-year-old daughter, Vianney, is protected by the government’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Mendoza-Sanchez and her husband, a truck driver, own a home in Oakland and have clean criminal records. She works as a nurse in the cardiology and oncology wing of Highland Hospital in Oakland. Vianney graduated from UC Santa Cruz and their daughter, Melin, is a senior at the same university.

Before meeting with Feinstein, the family held a news conference at their home. Carl Shusterman, an immigration attorney who represents the family, said the only thing that could help the family at this point is if officials decide to stay the deportation.

“It is possible, we have been asking,” he said. “The facts of the case have been under a rock until the last 24 hours — now everyone knows about it, and it could change.”

Mendoza-Sanchez said her chief concern was to stay in the country for one more year, so she could see Melin graduate from college.

“I want to be there for her because she worked so hard,” she said, “and I want to have the opportunity to be there when she walks up the stage after so many years of hard work and dedication.”

Immigration experts and attorneys say the Mendoza-Sanchez case is symbolic of the Trump administration’s decision to make nearly every immigrant in the country without documentation a priority for removal. Since February, more than 57,000 people have been ordered to leave the country — a nearly 31 percent increase over the same time period in 2016 under President Barack Obama.

The couple’s immigration saga began when they sneaked into the country in the early 1990s. In the early 2000s, they began an exhaustive effort to legalize their status by applying for asylum, and later they applied for green cards through the immigration courts — a nearly decadelong process that included a series of court dates and multiple appeals. They were denied in 2012.

Beginning in 2013, they were granted a pair of one-year stays before immigration officials, in 2015, informed them they didn’t need stays because they were low priorities for deportation, Mendoza-Sanchez said.

Virginia Kice, an ICE spokeswoman, said this week that the agency will not exempt people from enforcement.

“This administration is committed to the rule of law and to enforcing the laws established by Congress,” she said. “When we fail to enforce those laws, what message are we sending to the millions of people who respect that process, and are waiting outside the U.S. now for visas that will enable them to enter the country lawfully?”

Mendoza-Sanchez said she hoped attention on the family’s case might help other families in similar situations.

“I want to make a difference in a lot of immigrant families’ lives,” she said. “I’m pretty sure we are not the only family going through this. If it’s difficult for my kids, who are teenagers and young adults, to go through this type of situation, I can’t imagine how much harder it is for younger children.”

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/a...r-11748849.php

It wasn't the deportation that led to the separation, it was the fact one of them, at least,broke the law.

Feinstein can go RIP the President of Mexico and Central America.

Shut your pie hole and go fix their country.

As Feinstein walked up to the family’s home, she hugged Mendoza-Sanchez, who cried and said, “Thank you so much.” The meeting lasted about an hour, and afterward the senator said of the case, “It’s everything that the law ought to have some mercy with.”

Photo op and political grandstanding!

Originally Posted by MW

Photo op and political grandstanding!

Agree. There was such a photo with the article but the kind I couldn't copy for this forum....not needed anyway.