Trump 47: Immigration

Amid mounting outrage across the nation over the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, an ongoing civic campaign in Miami is continuing its clarion call condemning the Trump administration's "cruel immigration policies and dangerous abuses of power targeting immigrant communities."

Saying scores of her Haitian constituents are being threatened with deportation, Democratic U.S. Rep. Frederica S. Wilson has written President Donald Trump and other top administration officials urging them to extend Temporary Protected Status to hundreds of thousands of Haitian nationals.

Although deportation data is limited because the federal government has stopped releasing it, available figures show Trump remains far below his goal of deporting 1 million people a year.

Dozens of Democratic House members, including all eight Florida Democrats, are asking the Trump administration to restore Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants in the wake of last Saturday’s U.S. military strikes on the country.

“The elimination of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans earlier this year was reckless, dangerous, and wrong,” Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins said Saturday in a statement. “The instability unfolding in Venezuela today makes it even clearer that the country remains unsafe for people to return. No one should be forced back into chaos and uncertainty.”

America is closing its doors to the world, sealing the border, squeezing the legal avenues to entry and sending new arrivals and longtime residents to the exits. Immigration has woven itself so tightly through the country’s fabric that walling off the country now will profoundly alter daily life for millions of Americans.

Since Inauguration Day, more than 1.5 million immigrants have either lost or will lose their temporary legal status, including their work authorizations and deportation protections. It’s the most rapid loss in legal status for immigrants in recent United States history.

"Such a pause would show a decent regard for the humanity of these families," they said. "Now is not the time to be callous toward the suffering caused by immigration enforcement."

Every weekday William Botsch leaves his home around sunrise for an hour long trip on two trains to arrive at the Miami immigration court. He isn't a lawyer. He doesn't have a family member due to appear. He watches and takes notes. What has he learned from observing hundreds of immigration hearings?

The vigil included “a moment of prayer, reflection, and public witness, honoring the dignity of migrants and calling attention to ongoing abuses within the immigration system,” said organizers.

Social media posts by local public officials and Broward County residents showing ICE agents come at a time when the Trump administration is deploying federal agents nationwide to track down suspected undocumented immigrants and deport them in record numbers.

The Department of Homeland Security announced Friday the immediate termination of all categorical “Family Reunification Parole” programs for foreign nationals from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras, and their immediate family members.