Rev. Luis Cortes Applauds President Obama's Announcement on Changes to Deportation Policies for Undocumented Youth

PHILADELPHIA, June 15, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the Reverend Luis Cortes, Jr., President of Esperanza, commends President Obama for his announcement to stop deportation of undocumented children and young people under the age of 30 who meet certain eligibility criteria and are in school, graduated, or U.S. veterans.  This move is an important step in the right direction toward comprehensive immigration reform, and will have an immediate impact on almost a million eligible children and young adults.

Reverend Cortes states:

"Hundreds of thousands of undocumented young people arrived here through no fault of their own, were raised in the United States, and for all intents and purposes are Americans in their culture, language, and life experience.  They are a part of the fabric of our society; they are learning, growing, and contributing to our nation's prosperity.  We applaud President Obama for providing thousands of young people with the opportunity to truly thrive, as a recognized and integrated piece of our country's vibrant tapestry.  This was a decision based in common sense understanding of what will make our families, communities, and country stronger.

"This action was necessary due to the failure of Congress to pass any kind of immigration reform in the past 12 years, despite the overwhelming support of the public for reform, and many versions of legislation that were drafted and then left by the wayside. But this is just a stop-gap measure, and possibly a fragile one.  This measure could be overturned by future administrations if Congress doesn't move to make it a permanent law. 

"This is unquestionably a victory. But it's just one piece of a much larger problem.  Many more people will continue to suffer while our elected officials stubbornly entrench themselves in their partisan positions and create political gridlock.  This announcement should signal the first step of many, to resolve the problems of our broken system holistically and across the board, and to usher in a new day of order, peace, safety, and collective well-being in our great nation of immigrants."

Reverend Luis Cortes is president of Esperanza, the premiere Hispanic Evangelical faith-based network in the country.  With a national network of over 12,000 Hispanic congregations, faith and community based agencies, Esperanza is a leading voice for Hispanics in America.

SOURCE Esperanza