Latino deportation plan could hurt Democrats

The recently-announced plan by the Obama administration to start deporting Central American undocumented immigrants in January could cause problems for the Democratic Party − particularly presidential candidate nominee Hillary Clinton − and is likely to become a major issue in the battle for the White House, according to analysts.

From next month the Department of Homeland Security, via the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, will kick off a number of raids on families that have entered the United States illegally over the course of the last 12 months, according to the Washington Post. Over 100,000 families have journeyed across the south-west border of the country since the start of 2015, although the ICE operation will only be focusing on those that immigration judges have already ordered to be removed from the US.

The Obama administration has long held to the notion that immigrant families that enter the United States illegally will be deported if they do not qualify for asylum; however, there is now internal debate, with immigration advocates saying these families should be treated as refugees by the government because the violence in Central America was the motivating factor in their decision to cross the border.

Frank Sharry, an immigration advocate, says that Democratic presidential candidate nominees, and particularly Hillary Clinton, are going to be put under intense pressure to break ties with the Obama administration and denounce the plan. “This will be a political nightmare for the Democrats,” Sharry claims.