Immigration a Footnote in Democratic Presidential Debate, DACA Protesters Make Presence Heard

Immigration came up briefly during the Democratic presidential debate last week.  Debate moderator and journalist Jorge Ramos grilled former Vice President Joe Biden on President Obama’s immigration record with record numbers of deportations and bluntly asked him “Why should Latinos trust you?”  Kit Johnson critically blogged about Biden’s response to the questions on immigration. and how, despite Biden’s denial, the Obama administration in fact “locked people up in cages.” 

In short, Biden defended the Obama immigration record, highlighting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy.  Asked to respond, Julian Castro questioned Biden about his role in the mass removals.

During the response to the closing question, immigration protesters interrupted Biden.  Nicole Narea for Vox reports about the protesters:

“Four beneficiaries of [DACA], the program giving legal protections for young unauthorized immigrants, interrupted Joe Biden’s closing remarks during the Democratic debate Thursday night with chants of `We are DACA recipients! Our lives are at risk!’

Wearing T-shirts that read, `Defend DACA,’ `Abolish ICE,’ and `Citizenship for All,’ the protesters from the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium . . . had been invited to the debate. They were hoping that the candidates would discuss solutions for DACA recipients, who may lose their legal status if the US Supreme Court decides the program is unlawful in a case before the justices this fall. The protesters jumped on stage and chanted for about a minute before ultimately being escorted away.” (bold added).

KJ