WASHINGTON – Earlier this month, Roxie Bacon, former counsel of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, wrote a frank assessment of the country’s immigration quagmire for Arizona Attorney, the state bar’s law journal. The following is a statement from Marissa Graciosa, director of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM):
“Bacon’s insider view confirms what advocates and activists have been saying all along, that immigration reform has stalled for lack of leadership and deportations have skyrocketed, despite campaign promises to alleviate the suffering caused by family separations.
“It doesn’t give us any satisfaction to have our assessment validated, but we hope Bacon’s admissions will help spur a serious conversation on the wayward direction our immigration system has taken. The administration and Congress should heed her words, especially her evaluation of the current strategy of trying to win over those vehemently opposed to reform by satisfying their lust for draconian enforcement measures, something that will never happen.
“Unlike Bacon, we haven’t given up on this administration doing the right thing. That starts with not waiting for Congress to act. The administration can and should move quickly to protect the men, women and children who have families, jobs and contribute to their communities, and remove the frightening threat of deportation until we fix our dysfunctional immigration system.”
FIRM (Fair Immigration Reform Movement) is a coalition of more than 200 of the country’s largest and most active state and local immigration advocacy groups representing nearly every state. It is convened by the Center for Community Change.