- Title: Immigrant rights group says Trump's immigration orders shows he's on a "war path"
- Date: 25th January 2017
- Summary: UNION HIDALGO, OAXACA, MEXICO (FILE - JUNE 18, 2014) (REUTERS) MORE OF IMMIGRANTS HEADED TOWARDS THE UNITED STATES RIDING ON TOP A TRAIN ALONG
- Embargoed: 8th February 2017 17:57
- Keywords: U.S. President Donald Trump immigration border control security illegal immigrants LA RAZA refugee executive order migrants
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES / CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO / UNION HIDALGO, OAXACA, MEXICO
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES / CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO / UNION HIDALGO, OAXACA, MEXICO
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00560KYOG7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Immigrant rights group, the National Council of La Raza, said on Wednesday (January 25) that President Donald Trump's latest immigration orders show he is on a "war path" against American communities.
"That is a sad state of affairs because the reality is that you cannot make life miserable for immigrants alone," said Clarissa Martinez de Castro, Deputy Vice President of the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation at the National Coalition of La Raza, the largest Latino advocacy group in the U.S.
"Anybody in his administration who tries to say that we're simply trying to make it miserable for immigrants as if that were not to affect anybody else, it's just a fallacy. The reality is that millions of American families are going to be impacted by these policies because they are the U.S. spouses, children or relatives of the communities who now have a target on their backs," she said.
Trump is expected to start signing directives on Wednesday to begin building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and to boost the numbers of agents policing illegal immigration, moving quickly on sweeping plans to curb immigration and boost national security.
Trump, who took office last Friday, will begin signing the orders at the Department of Homeland Security, whose responsibilities include immigration and border security, congressional aides with knowledge of the plan said.
"These plans could open up the floodgates for personnel at the Department of Homeland Security to engage in racial profiling in their treatment, not just of immigrant communities, but frankly United States citizens who are perceived to be immigrants because of the color of their skin or the accent with which they speak," de Castro told Reuters.
On Twitter on Tuesday night, Trump reiterated his promise to build a wall along the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration a key element of his presidential campaign, with supporters often chanting "build the wall" during his rallies. Trump has long said that he will make Mexico pay for the wall, but Mexican officials have forcefully resisted this idea.
"What President Trump has put on the table is a set of pronouncements that will cost taxpayers billions and billions of dollars for years to come... So there's going to be a very clear question on the table for members of Congress and the Republican Party about where they stand, and where their fiscal conservatism begins and ends where political ideology is concerned. This is going to be a test for them," de Castro said.
The cost and nature of the wall have not been made clear. Many Democrats have opposed the plan and could try to thwart any legislation to pay for the construction in the U.S. Congress, although Republicans control both the Senate and House of Representatives. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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