#Not1More Blue Ribbon Commission to the White House

There has been big movement on the Not 1 More Deportation campaign front in the past few weeks. Key politicians have called on the White House to curtail deportations. The New York Times writes that President Obama is feeling the heat for his 2 million deportations. Janet Murgia jumped into the fray last week by calling the President “The Deporter In Chief” to which the President replied that he was “Champion-In-Chief of comprehensive immigration reform.” Of course, the the two are not mutually exclusive and in response to the growing pressure, the President called a meeting with various immigration reform organizations in D.C. and asked for 90 days of ‘unity’ while ICE finds more “humane” ways to carry out enforcement.

Honestly, I’m not sure how one can more humanely tear families apart. However, in a typical Friday news leak, Homeland Security disclosed that it is considering two measures to ease deportations: end or scale down Secure Communities, and stop deportations of people without criminal convictions. These are certainly welcome changes but there is a lot more that can be done. NDLON’s rule-making petition and NILC’s briefing on how how the President can use executive authority to stop deportations make it crystal clear that there are various things the President can do to ease deportations. It is no longer a question of legal authority but one of political will. 

As the calls for Not One More deportation become more mainstream, it is important to continue escalating and not step off the gas just because the President is trying to pacify us with calls for unity. At this time, it is also important to solidify around a list of goals and recommendations as to how to ease deportations, and ensure that the negotiations are not limited to easing deportations on the lowest hanging fruit. As Marisa Franco writes:

At some point the calls for what the President should do will get more specific, and inevitably negotiations of some sort will begin.  We must hold the line and try to win the most expansive relief possible.  We should also take aim at the deportation programs that have been the driving force behind racial profiling, detention and deportation of migrants.  This should not be a time for simply reaching for the lowest hanging fruit.  Not one More, period.

To that end, immigrant leaders who have been directly impacted by U.S. immigration policies established the #Not1More Blue Ribbon Commission to the White House this past week. The goals of the Commission are to keep the pressure on the White House, release recommendations on how to ease deportations by April 5, 2014, and request that the leaders are allowed to present the recommendations to the President. I’m excited to see what the Commission can come up with in the next month to move us all forward.