Senator Murray Refers to Nuñez and Helsell in Immigration Speech

— from the Office of Senator Patty Murray —

Murray on immigration reform: “It’s time to hope for the best, but it’s also time to plan for the worst.”

Murray: U.S. should stop deportation of non-criminal detainees, ensure due process in the immigration court system, expand prosecutorial discretion, dramatically reform detention policies.

Today, in a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) laid out her priorities for Administrative action on federal immigration policies if House Republicans fail to take up comprehensive immigration reform legislation this summer. Murray said that if Republicans ignore their opportunity to act, the Obama Administration should stop deportation of non-criminal detainees, ensure due process in the immigration court system, expand prosecutorial discretion, and dramatically reform detention policies.

In her speech, Murray also detailed specific examples of how the broken immigration system is impacting families and communities in Washington state. She discussed the concerning treatment of undocumented detainees at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA and senseless deportation actions taken against undocumented immigrants in Washington state, including Benjamin Munez-Marquez, a beloved community member and critical employee at the West Sound Lumber Company on Orcas Island.

“Since the Senate passed immigration reform, tens of thousands of people – many of them women and children – have been senselessly deported from this country and separated from their families – for no reason other than their undocumented status. Businesses large and small have begged members of the House to pass reform: from tech companies who need to hire the best and brightest from around the world, to agriculture businesses who desperately need a stable workforce. And now, M. President, we’re seeing, along our country’s southern border, hundreds of unaccompanied young children – many fleeing horrific gang violence in their home countries – desperately seeking safety and a new life in the United States, but, because of our broken immigration laws, we’re nearly helpless to respond and live up to our nation’s global reputation as a place of safety, fairness, and freedom.”

“First, the Administration should make changes to ensure that while we’re being tough on those who are a threat to our public safety or national security, we’re enforcing our immigration laws in a smart, humane way for the millions of undocumented immigrants who are American in all but name….Second, we need to re-establish in our immigration system the most basic of American principles: due process of law…Finally M. President, we must expand prosecutorial discretion and decide that before we deport someone like Ben Nunez-Marquez out of this country – we should take a second to use our common sense, first.”

“I look forward to working with President Obama, along with Republicans and Democrats alike in Congress, to ensure our immigration system works. And I know so many people here and around the country join me in hoping House Republicans step up and do the job that the American people expect them to do.”

Last year, Senator Murray and a bipartisan group of her colleagues voted to pass a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill through the Senate which strengthened border protections while creating a real path to citizenship for millions of undocumented people living in the shadows. Since the Senate acted last year, Senator Murray has led her colleagues in calling on House Republicans to take up and pass the Senate bill.

Just last week, Senator Murray met with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Deputy Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, to express her significant concern with DHS’s response to the recent surge in undocumented youths detained by U.S. officials after crossing the United States’ Southern border. Senator Murray has been working to pass additional federal funding to provide basic legal information and protections for detained undocumented immigrants, including unaccompanied children, and fund 35 new Immigration Judge Teams to adjudicate tens of thousands of additional cases and reduce the existing backlog. That legislation, which was passed by a critical committee earlier this month, is pending consideration by the full Senate.

To see Senator Murray’s presentation, go to https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=21671a0a-8884-446e-9497-82e994de36f3

Thanks to Eleanor Hoague