CR

Yes, as I mentioned last night, I had been a volunteer for Obama in 2008. I remember hearing Obama sit down with Jorge Ramos from Univision and promise to legalize the undocumented. And I bought into that — it gave me hope. I believed. A lot of people did.

You know, Obama in 2008, and 2012, depended on immigrant voters — Latino, Asian, African — to win. We carried him to victory in states like Florida, Wisconsin, and Michigan. And one of the reasons we did that is because he promised to pass immigration reform.

But the rest is history; Obama didn’t meet his promises. Not only did he never prioritize immigration, he ended up deporting 3 million of the same people he had promised to help.

We’ve been down this road before. We’re used to presidential candidates adopting positive rhetoric on immigration only when it’s convenient for them. We’ve experienced broken promises leading to family separations. That’s why we’re really focused on this demand that all presidential candidates pledge on day one of taking office to pass a moratorium on deportations through executive order.

Given the magnitude of the crisis, this is the minimum. The mistrust is deep; many immigrants right now are skeptical that either party could be a vehicle for change. Clearly Trump is terrible and he has scapegoated us, but the Obama legacy is still strong. It was not long ago; immigrants remember what happened. So supporting an immediate moratorium on deportations is a critical litmus test — it will take that level of commitment to even begin to restore trust.

We know that Congress is the only body that can pass full legalization, but it would leave candidates off the hook if we only called for a pathway to citizenship. We can’t rely only on Congress. Presidents have executive power to protect immigrants — and they need to use it.