On Tuesday, April 15, President Barack Obama met with religious leaders to discuss immigration in the US, a subject which has been promoted by various organizations seeking to stop the deportations which in recent years have divided thousands of families.
During the meeting carried out in the Oval Office of the White House with six leaders of the Hispanic faith-based organization Esperanza, President Obama said that he would not be taking measures to change current laws, expressing his worry for the lack of agreements in the House of Representatives where a reform approved by the Senate has been stuck since last June.
Luis Cortés, president of Esperanza, said that the President made it clear by assuring he would not carry out unilateral measures to approve the law, according to the AP, reported The Washington Post.
Through a press release emitted moments after the meeting was over, the White House said that Obama had told the representatives of Hispanic faith in the U.S. that his administration is carrying out the necessary efforts to apply immigration law; however, despite him being able to take measures to improve its application, only Congress can make permanent changes to the system and benefit over 11 million immigrants illegally residing in the country.
Obama's administration is infamous for the large number of deportations led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with over 2 million immigrants deported, causing thousands of families to be separated.
The record amount registered in the past six years has generate strong criticism against the current federal administration. Obama managed to be reelected thanks to the vote of the Hispanic community and organizations in favor of immigrants have pointed to the lack of commitment from the U.S. government in relation to immigration reform which in 2013 was suspended in the House after the Senate approved project S744.
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