Six members of Oregon’s congressional delegation want assurances that federal immigration agents will not target DACA recipients for arrest and possible deportation.
Oregon's four Democratic representatives and two senators wrote a joint letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials Wednesday.
They say they’re worried about how ICE agents will conduct themselves given that President Trump may allow the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to expire. DACA gives immigrants who were brought to the country as children a chance to work or get an education without fear of sudden deportation.
“DACA recipients provide sensitive information to the Department of Homeland Security, with the assurance that the information won’t be used against them and their families,” the six members of Congress wrote. "They deserve safety and peace of mind.”
The elected officials also asked ICE to "avoid conducting massive and untargeted deportation raids."
“Deportation raids are an ineffective tool that generate fear and insecurity in our community,” they wrote. “Conducting these raids deters children from attending school and parents from seeking medical services. It also leads to crime going unreported.”
The elected officials asked for a “timely response.”
Oregon’s only Republican member of Congress, Greg Walden, did not sign the joint letter.
The letter comes just a day after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions visited Portland to scold cities and states that don't work closely with federal immigration officials.
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