The Obama administration faces mounting pressure from increasingly diverse quarters to halt the practice of controversial raids to deport undocumented immigrants.
The latest group to join the chorus of those demanding an end to the recent raids is a coalition of three-dozen lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender groups, which sent a letter Thursday to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. Johnson has said that "enforcement operations such as these will continue to occur as appropriate." Two days of raids were carried out the first weekend of January and resulted so far in the detention of more than 120 people, most of them from Central America.
The negative impacts of the raids "are even more harrowing for LGBTQ immigrants that already report higher levels of violence and discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity," stated the letter, which was signed by the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, and Pride at Work, among others.
Earlier this week, nearly 150 House Democrats also sent a letter to the Obama administration, urging the president to stop the deportations and to "start working towards a solution that provides a practical and humane response to the mothers and children from Central America fleeing for their lives."
The administration has defended the raids and deportations as necessary to deter an uptick in illegal border crossings in the months prior to the raids. Administration officials say the focus of the operations has been on immigrants who had "exhausted appropriate legal remedies" and have already been ordered to leave the country.
The dispute between Obama and members of his own party over immigration raids has also spilled over onto the presidential campaign trail. Senator Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley both condemned the raids last week, and Hillary Rodham Clinton chimed in on Monday, saying "the raids have sown fear and division in immigrant communities across the country."
But the administration can at least count on support for its actions from the Republican candidates: After the plans for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids were leaked to the press late in December, Donald Trump tweeted, "Wow, because of the pressure put on by me, ICE TO LAUNCH LARGE SCALE DEPORTATION RAIDS. It's about time!"
