For Immediate Release

Marshall, MN – National pro-immigration group Cafe Con Leche Republicans today reacted to the news the mother and brother of DREAM Activist Erika Andiola were granted prosecutorial discretion and will not be deported.

President Bob Quasius said “We’re delighted to hear that the family of Erika Andiola will not be ripped apart. As Republicans, we support family values and keeping families together is very important to us.”

“The tremendous pressure required to bring about the exercise of prosecutorial discretion highlights the need to replace the current “band aid” approach with substantive legislative change. Most immigrants in a similar situation don’t have the political and media connections that Erika Andiola has due to her leadership position in the DREAM movement.”

“Prosecutorial discretion has been policy since 2000 (Meissner memo) but widely ignored, as deportations in recent years have set new records. John Morton of ICE issued similar guidance in June 2011, yet less than 2% of 411,000 deportation cases reviewed resulted in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. We continue to hear of widespread deportations of immigrants who meet and exceed the criteria of the Morton memo but are deported anyway, leaving broken families behind.”

“President Obama has again promised that immigration reform will be a priority after his inauguration. We hope that President Obama will finally exercise leadership in working with Congress to achieve a broad overhaul of our immigration laws. Band aid approaches clearly don’t work.”

“After President Obama’s reelection victory, Speaker John Boehner announced that Republicans in Congress were prepared to work with President Obama on bipartisan immigration reform, but so far the only response we’ve heard to Speaker Boehner’s olive branch has been the sound of crickets. We believe the election debacle served as a wake-up call for Republicans, and most Republicans in Congress, except a few hard liners, are ready and willing to address immigration reform. Immigration reform won’t become a reality until both parties work together, and now is the time to act.”

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About Us – Cafe Con Leche Republicans is a national organization of Republicans who welcome “New Americans”, defined as immigrants and family of recent immigrants. Our mission is to make America and the GOP, more welcoming to “New Immigrants” through political activism, “in-reach” and education within the Republican Party, and lobbying government to adopt more immigrant friendly policies. We also seek to bring more conservative and moderate “New Americans” to the Republican Party. These efforts will strengthen the GOP, and lead more Republicans to embrace welcoming policies for immigrants and their families. We have members nationwide, with chapters in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and California. Our members and leadership are predominantly Hispanic, though we define ourselves by mission and guiding principles, not ethnicity, and we welcome all who share our goals. Our leadership is 100% Republican.

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