(The Washington Post) — “Democrats repeatedly pressed Nielsen to clarify her position during a lengthy Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday. Citing a spike in the immigration arrests of non-criminals, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) raised the case of a Michigan dad who arrived illegally from Mexico at age 10 and was deported this week after 30 years — based on an outstanding court order of removal from 2009.”
With an immigration deal looking fraught on Capitol Hill, the Trump administration is offering public assurances that undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers” will not be targeted for deportation even if lawmakers fail to provide them permanent legal status.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said this week that immigrants who have lived in the country illegally since they were children remain a low priority for removal — behind felons, suspected terrorists and those with outstanding deportation orders.
The promise appeared aimed at rebutting suggestions that the Department of Homeland Security would initiate mass roundups of dreamers if Congress and the White House are unable to strike a deal to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program President Trump terminated last fall.
Click to continue reading. By David Nakamura – Jan 17, 2018.