Immigrants in US ask Obama to end deportations

Washington, May 8 (IANS/EFE) Thousands of immigrant mothers in the US Wednesday visited Washington urging President Barack Obama to use his executive power to halt deportation of immigrants.

Coinciding with the May 11 celebration of Mother's Day, immigrant mothers travelled to Washington from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and San Francisco Wednesday to make the request.

United by common history, emigrating to the US in search of a better life for their family or fleeing from threats in their countries in some cases, the women are now afraid that a family member will be deported, or even themselves, and that they will be separated from their children.

Monica Ruiz, who arrived in the US 23 years ago as an undocumented migrant, said at an event here that she came to the US "with high hopes" that her daughters were going to have all that she didn't have.

"But the daily reality is that they can detain me and separate me from my daughters," she said.

The mothers were accompanied by members of the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC) and other supporters of the Power of the Pen campaign.

The activists recalled Obama statement in his State of the Union address that he would use his executive power when Congress did not take action to move forward, and therefore they asked him to use "the power of his pen" to halt deportations given the failure of the House of Representatives to approve immigration reform.

NALACC president Angela Sambrano said that in the last six years, more than two million people have been deported.

Sambrano said there are some 500,000 US-born children who have left this country because their parents have been expelled, while others have remained with some other relative.

--IANS/EFE

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