Arizona congressmen attack President Trump’s immigration policy
Feb 28, 2017, 11:15 AM | Updated: 11:30 am
Angel Rayos-Garcia and Jackie Rayos-Garcia, whose mother Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos was deported earlier this month, accompanied by Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Aria., right, and Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., second from right, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Luis Alonso Lugo)
(AP Photo/Luis Alonso Lugo)
PHOENIX — A pair of congressmen from Arizona said Tuesday the White House immigration policy would only catch the wrong undocumented immigrants, starting with a recently deported Arizona woman.
“It’s not just ‘bad hombres,’ ” U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) said Tuesday morning from the U.S. Capitol Building. With him, hours before President Donald Trump was scheduled to address Congress, were the teenage children of deportee Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos and fellow Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona).
Angel & Jacqueline lost their mother to Trump's blanket deported enforcement. At today's #SOTU, he will have to face them. #FaceTheVictims pic.twitter.com/H2uNiKS2pS
— Ruben Gallego (@RepRubenGallego) February 28, 2017
“They’ll be going after the Guadalupes of the world,” Gallego said. De Rayos, who had a felony conviction for criminal impersonation, worked in Mesa, and regularly met with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The Guadalupes are easy targets.”
She was arrested Feb. 8 after checking in with federal authorities and sent to Mexico overnight.
Trump has repeatedly referred to “bad hombres” — dangerous criminals who are in the United States illegally — who should be deported as soon as possible.
Instead, Gallego and Grijalva, said, lower-level offenders will be caught in the net.
“Deporting hardworking parents doesn’t make America great again, it really doesn’t,” Angel Garcia de Rayos said.
His sister Jaqueline Garcia De Rayos said, “…We’re not criminals, we work.”
Both teens said they missed their mother.
“It’s her birthday and she doesn’t get to spend it with her children,” Gallego said.
The president was expected to discuss national security and the economy during the joint session of Congress, which will be carried live on KTAR News 92.3 FM starting at 7 p.m.
