Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said this week that illegal aliens should not be deported as a result of violating U.S. law.
Speaking at a New York event on Monday, Pelosi said, “So, that is really kind of what happened. [Trump] didn’t say what he was going to do but, as the President said, ‘oh, I’ll let you know, I’ll let you know.’ [He] went into – ‘well, people broke the laws.’ A violation of status is not a reason for deportation. That’s just not so.”
Pelosi made the comments during a current immigration process discussion, which was held at the Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, N.Y. and was hosted by Congresswoman Grace Meng. Immigration protesters and advocacy groups were in attendance, ABC 7 News reported.
Pelosi’s public appearance came just two days after President Trump delayed his immigration sweep for two weeks following a 12-minute phone call from Pelosi, who requested it.
Following his call with Pelosi on Saturday, President Trump tweeted, “At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start.”
At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2019
Pelosi responded, “Mr. President, delay is welcome. Time is needed for comprehensive immigration reform. Families belong together.”
Mr. President, delay is welcome. Time is needed for comprehensive immigration reform. Families belong together. https://t.co/R9PDrfaKWj
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 22, 2019
Pelosi also called Trump’s planned ICE raids “uncivilized” and questioned their purpose, during her speech on Monday.
She said the raids had been delayed for two weeks to give Congress more time to “find a solution to the southern border crisis.”
Pelosi said, “When I saw that the President was going to have these raids — I mean it was so appalling; it’s outside the circle of civilized human behavior to just be kicking down doors, splitting up families, and the rest of that, in addition to the injustices that are happening at the border.”
Her remarks appear at 8:40 in the video below.
“We have legislation to go forward to address those needs, but in terms of interior enforcement, what is– what’s the point? Well, I won’t even go into what the motivation might be for that here because this is not a political event,” Pelosi added.
Pelosi likened the immigration crisis to the airstrikes Trump called off on Iran, citing collateral damage of 150 lives.
“I would hope he would apply that same value to avoiding the collateral damage to tens of thousands of children who are frightened by his actions,” she said.
An ICE official told Fox News that the deportations are authorized under 8 U.S. Code Section 1325, which states “anyone found to have violated U.S. immigration laws may be arrested, detained and – if found removable by final order – removed from the United States.”
