Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., and other House Democrats announced their new "Family Defender Toolkit," which is designed to help illegal aliens avoid deportation if they are detained by an ICE agent, and to gather the documents necessary to apply for President Obama’s executive amnesties. House Democrats have been holding events around to country to educate illegal aliens about the DAPA and expanded DACA amnesties.
The toolkit includes a detailed pamphlet with a detachable wallet “emergency card” that helps illegal aliens who meet certain criteria demonstrate they are a low priority for deportation under the Administration’s non-deportation guidelines.
At the press conference, Rep. Gutiérrez said: “We developed this ‘Family Defender Toolkit’ that is designed to help people organize the documents they will need when the court injunction is lifted – and it will be lifted, because the law is on the President’s side.” The courts, however, may rule that the executive amnesties are unlawful, in which case no further applications will ever be taken.
Gutierrez continued, “If you are in the unfortunate position of getting put into ICE custody in the meantime and have committed no serious crime, you will have the ability to say that you think you qualify for DACA or DAPA for all of these reasons, my documents have been collected and I can prove it, and I should be a low priority for deportation. If the ICE and DHS officials are following the policy correctly, that should be enough to let you go or at least get your case reviewed.”
Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., said "There's uncertainty across the country about what that court decision in Texas means. People have great faith that DACA and DAPA will eventually take effect. But on the practical side, what needs to happen for families is that they understand what they need to be doing … right now."
The Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs would provide certain illegal aliens a three-year work permit. The initiatives are mostly billed as deportation-prevention programs, but the eligible illegal aliens are already safe from deportation under Obama’s non-deportation policies.
26 states have sued the Administration, arguing the executive amnesty programs are unlawful and impose exorbitant new costs on them. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen blocked implementation of the programs, although the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is considering the Administration’s request to stay his injunction. The 5th Circuit will rule on that request on April 17th.
Read more in The Hill.
