Activists say the White House delay of a deportation policy review means 70,000 more deportations between now and August 

Activists say the President's decision to give the House of Representatives 'space' to pass immigration reform is 'a cynical calculation for political gain'

By Albor Ruiz | albor.ruiz@aol.com

New York Daily News (June 1, 2014)

Seventy thousand more people deported. Seventy thousand mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, daughters, sons, friends, lovers, neighbors. Seventy thousand new victims of President Obama's cruel policy that has already expelled 2 million immigrants.

That's what Obama's decision to delay the review of his policy of massive expulsions he had ordered in March will do. It's hard to comprehend, but at a moment when immigrant families were waiting anxiously - even with a rare glimmer of hope - for such a review, the White House announced deportations will continue unabated at least until Congress adjourns in August.

They want, the White House said, to give the House of Representatives "space" to pass immigration reform before fall election campaign madness sets in, something that seems as probable as snow in August.

"The President really wants to maximize the opportunity to get a permanent solution enacted, which requires Congress," Cecilia Mu�oz, the director of the White House's Domestic Policy Council, said with a straight face. A former member of the National Council of La Raza, Mu�oz's zeal for justifying the unjustifiable has made her very unpopular among Latinos.

The delay is unconscionable, but it's hardly surprising. After all, this is an administration of half-hearted decisions and unfulfilled promises.

What is surprising, embarrassing and wrong is that a group of national organizations has come out in favor of such delay.

"We are appalled that after so much sacrifice and hard work from the undocumented community to pressure the President to use his power to stop deportations, some organizations like the National Immigration Forum and SEIU, (would) rather protect the administration instead of the millions of families separated by deportations," said Erika Andiola and C�sar Vargas of the DREAM Action Coalition.

Add Sojourners, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Migration to the list of groups which, almost incomprehensibly, asked Obama to "move cautiously."

"We believe the President should move cautiously and give the House leadership all of the space they may need to bring legislation to the floor for a vote," the groups said this past Tuesday.

Reactions from many other community and immigrant groups have not been kind to the President.

" The delay in review of deportation policy until August means that over 70,000 more immigrants will be deported, including fathers and mothers torn apart from their children. This is unacceptable," said Steven Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.

Arturo Carmona, executive director of Presente.org, wasn't as polite.

"Other than a cynical calculation for political gain, there is no other apparent reason for why President Obama is delaying his decision on halting deportations," said Carmona. "Republicans have already made it clear with their actions that they have no intention of moving immigration reform forward."

No, they don't, and it's hard to imagine that the President or the groups supporting him really believe otherwise.

Certainly Astoria resident Elena Guzm�n, a Salvadoran immigrant, U.S. citizen and registered Democrat who voted twice for Obama, doesn't believe it. That's why when asked whom is she going to vote for in the November midterm elections she didn't hesitate: "For no one; it's not worth the trouble. All politicians are liars; look what's happening with the immigrants."