DREAMers Vow to 'Escalate' Activism After Obama's 'Slap to the Face'

On Saturday, after the White House announced that President Barack Obama will not enact executive amnesty before the midterm elections, pro-amnesty groups vowed to “escalate” their activism what they said was a “slap to the face.” 

Cristina Jimenez of the pro-amnesty United We Dream group, which has confronted lawmakers like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and staged mock “funerals” for the GOP in Congress, said Obama’s “latest broken promise is another slap to the face of the Latino and immigrant community.”

“Where we have demanded leadership and courage from both Democrats and the President, we’ve received nothing but broken promises and a lack of political backbone,” she said, accusing Obama of being more interested in politics than protecting illegal immigrants. “But Dreamers will not soon forget the President and Democrats’ latest failure and their attempts to fool the Latino community, and we remain resolute in fighting for justice for our families.”

She vowed that “Dreamers across the country will escalate until the moral crisis in our community is lifted and millions of people are liberated from the fear of being torn from their families.”

DRM Action, which has sent DREAMers to confront Republicans like Rep. Steve King (R-IA), blasted Obama for “another broken promise.” 

Senate Democrats urged Obama in recent days not to enact an executive amnesty that cause the party to lose control of the Senate, and the White House did say that Obama would enact an executive amnesty this year that could grant temporary amnesty and work permits to nearly five million illegal immigrants. But pro-amnesty groups like La Raza want their “rights” now and do not want to wait another two months. 

On Friday, Janet Murguia, La Raza’s CEO and president, said her community was “done waiting” and demanded Obama enact executive amnesty for up to eight million illegal immigrants. And it seems like Obama’s announcement will only embolden DREAMers and pro-amnesty groups that have staged plenty of protests across the country and in front of the White House this summer.