On Friday Senator Bernie Sanders said that the time was right for an aggressive push towards the creation of immigration policies that ensured families were able to stay together, calling such a move both sensible and humane. Sanders made the comments in front of Latino policymakers in Las Vegas.
The presidential candidate and Vermont independent declared that he would oversee an expansion of the deferred action policies introduced by President Obama via executive action and give undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children protection from deportation, at least temporarily. Sanders also believes that parents of Dreamers (as these undocumented immigrants are nicknamed), legal permanent residents and those with US citizenship should also be given deferred action.
Obama’s most recent attempt to expand the program, announced in November last year, is currently on hold after a federal court challenge. “It makes common sense to me, and I think all people of good will, that we should be pursuing policies that unite families, not tear them apart,” Sanders noted to the National Conference of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.
The speech marked the most extensive comments Sanders has made with regard to issues that affect the Latino community since the announcement was made about his decision to stand for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party last month. Sanders says it is time to put an end to mass deportation and to create a responsible and reasonable path to US citizenship for undocumented immigrants.