An immigrant rights group, joined by congressmen, yesterday pushed the Obama administration and Gov. Deval Patrick to do more to support immigrants and stop increasing deportations.
“We want that champion of our community that we all voted for to show and say ‘Here I am. I am ready to demonstrate some balance,’” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat from Chicago.
Gutierrez spoke yesterday to a crowd of more than a 100 people packed into La Casa de la Cultura in East Boston. The stop was part of Gutierrez’s 20-city tour called the “Campaign for American Children and Families.”
He’s collecting signatures at each stop that he said he will bring to President Obama to hopefully get him to limit deportations.
He said he supports Obama, but wants to have a dialogue about the issue.
Gutierrez was joined by Rep. Michael Capuano, who told the crowd he didn’t know when Congress would take up the immigration issue, but said “we will get to this. It’s way overdue already.”
Gutierrez also urged the crowd to tell Patrick “no to Secure Communities.” The controversial program allows police departments to funnel information about people they arrest to federal authorities who check on immigration status.
