The nation’s largest Latino civil rights organization, the National Council of La Raza, calls President Obama the Deporter-in-Chief as this administration approaches an all-time high in deportations: nearly two million.
NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguia says, “to us this president has been the Deporter-in-Chief,” before an audience of about 750.

“So yes we respectfully disagree with the president on his ability to stop deportations, he can,” said Murguía. “Failure to act will be a shameful legacy for his presidency.”

Amidst the political stalemate over comprehensive immigration reform, NCLR and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) recently have both honored the so-called ‘Gang of Eight,’ (the legislators who co-sponsored a CIR bill in the U.S. Senate) who spurred a more aggressive voice six years into Obama’s administration calling for comprehensive immigration reform.

These legislators, known to their constituents as Democrats Michael Bennet of Colorado, Richard Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menéndez of New Jersey and Charles Schumer of New York, along with their GOP colleagues Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida got the CIR ball rolling legislatively when the bill passed last June. It has since stalled in the lower chamber.

On that same day, Murguía called President Obama by the controversial moniker, she stepped on to the stage at the organization’s annual gala to give a shout out to these eight U.S. Senators. “We honor the sponsors of a true bipartisan agreement, the Gang of Eight,” she told the gathering.

There were plenty of corporate sponsors at the NCLR and NALEO events, held in a historical museum and a tony hotel respectively, and they included PEPSICO, Univision, Verizon, Wal-Mart and Google, all of whom have been supporters of CIR.

Former union official Eliseo Medina, who has been an ardent supporter of CIR and has fasted with other supporters to push for a vote in Congress, also received recognition from NCLR for his efforts.
Medina, Lisa Sharon Harper and Rudy Lopez accept NCLR’s recognition and award in public service given to “Fast for Families.” The organization will travel through 70 congressional districts before reaching its end on April 9, in Washington D.C.

“We need Congress to end this crisis,” Medina said at the NCLR EVENT. “They need to do it now.”

He stressed that they have not ended the fight and that they would continue to move the issue forward.

“We are going to travel 14,212 miles on a bus and visit more than 70 congressional districts,” he added . “We will ask their constituents to join, act, fast and pray for immigration reform.”

“Every day without reform means more people will die in the desert and their crime was wanting a better life. We know if everyone does their part…, it is not a question of if, it is a question of when,” Medina said.

NCLR’s Murguía also placed blame squarely on congressional shoulders. “You have had more than enough time to come up with legislation. Sticking your head in the sand will not make it go away because we will not go away,” Murguía said in her scolding of Congress’s inability to move legislation forward.

Several prominent Republicans have said that nothing has really happened with immigration reform because they “just can’t trust the president” to enforce current laws, a contention the Democrats call ridiculous.

Just hours after the “deporter in chief” comment started making the rounds, Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) went on the House floor to point out that it’s President Obama who’s been enforcing the law. “Just who is the Deporter-in-Chief?”

“Remember, the Republicans are currently sitting on their hands when it comes to immigration reform because they say they cannot trust the President to enforce immigration laws,” Gutiérrez continued. “Who spent more on immigration enforcement than all other criminal federal law enforcement combined? Well, if you guessed Barack Obama you’d be right,” he said on the House floor, placing a gold star over President Obama’s photo every time the congressman pointed out which of the last three presidents had immigration enforcement front and center. “His almost $18 billion is $3.5 more than we spend on the FBI, ATF, DEA, Secret Service and all of them combined,” he stressed, adding that other crimes are currently being prosecuted far less frequently than being in the country illegally. Additionally, Gutíerrez said, the Obama administration has placed some 420,000 persons in detention in one single year, and that is more than than any other president in history.

NCLR, said that it will continue to press key Republican legislatures to get a bill onto the floor. On Thursday, March 6, the organization held a mock election with a little more than 100 ballots voting in favor of comprehensive immigration reform in front of Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) office. The event was to show what NCLR calls “the political consequences,” that Republicans will experience during the November elections if they do not bring forth a bill.

Aaron Montes is a reporter for Hispanic Link News Service and can be reached at [email protected].