Latino groups on Saturday promised they would “not soon forget” President Obama’s move to delay any executive action on the border crisis until after the midterm elections.
A White House official said Obama decided to postpone acting on immigration until after November because of the tremulous political season and “Republican’s extreme politicization of the issue.”
{mosads}But immigrant rights and Latino advocacy groups were quick to place blame on Obama and Democrats after hearing the news.
“To wait nine more weeks means that I must again look my mother in the eye and see the fear she has about living under the threat of deportation every day,” said Cristina Jimenez, director of United We Dream, an advocacy group.
“But Dreamers will not soon forget the president and Democrats’s latest failure and their attempts to fool the Latino community, and we remain resolute in fighting for justice for our families,” Jimenez added.
Obama’s move is likely an attempt to also quell calls from vulnerable Senate Democrats to hold off on any move until after the elections, fearing any action would isolate independent voters and fire up the Republican base.
Staunch immigration activist and director of America’s Voice, Frank Sharry tore into Obama for the delay, calling it a bitter disappointment.
“We advocates didn’t make the reform promise; we just made the mistake of believing it,” Sharry said. “The President and Senate Democrats have chosen politics over people; the status quo over solving real problems.”
“It is hard to believe this litany of high expectations and broken promises will be mended by the end of the year,” he said.
Adding onto what could be viewed as calls to mobilize against Democrats during a crucial election year, Sharry said “the stakes have only been raised; so is our determination.”
Arturo Carmona, director of Presente.org, an online Latino organizing group, called the delay a “betrayal” and one of the “single biggest attacks on Latino families by the Democratic Party in recent memory.”
Other Latino and immigration reform groups described the move as a “harsh disappointment” and “disheartening.”
The PICO National Network’s Campaign for Citizenship blasted Obama and Democrats for using undocumented immigrants and Latinos as “political pawns.”
While a number of Democrats facing reelection pressured Obama to delay action after he vowed on Friday to move on immigration “soon,” a leading Democrat, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (Ill.) has urged the president to “lean in” on reform.
Gutierrez scolded his colleagues earlier this week, telling them to “stand aside” and let Obama take action.
Gutierrez is scheduled to hold a press conference in Chicago on Monday with immigrant families that will be impacted by the administration’s decisions on immigration and deportations, an advisory states.