Group chants 'Here to stay,' express immigration concerns to Congresswoman Illeana Ros-Lehtinen

Represenative from congresswoman's office heard complaints

MIAMI – DREAMers and members of the immigrant community chanted, "Here to stay," Wednesday as they marched toward U.S. Rep. Illeana Ros-Lehtinen's office.

"We want the commitment from your office to keep on fighting for this," a marcher said.  

The group wanted to express their grievances  with the way President Donald Trump and his administration have been handling a variety of immigration issues.

"We feel outraged about what the administration is doing besides that in our community dreamers are being attacked," said Ricardo Campos, a field director with United We Dream.

The group was at the congresswoman's office to hand over a petition with more than 9,000 signatures, demanding that Ros-Lehtinen and other Florida lawmakers not support Trump’s proposed $3 million immigration budget.

"The administration is coming, is raiding our families, is doing nothing to protect us. On top of that is trying to approve $3 million to keep raiding our communities. This is unacceptable," Campos said.

They were also there to talk about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient Juan Montes, who was recently deported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in February and about a Nicaraguan national who was seeking political asylum.

Montes is now awaiting deportation leaving behind a small child who was born in the United States.

The congresswoman's chief of staff, Maytee Sanz, listened to the group.

"It is a shame people who are complying with immigration regulations, with their orders of supervision and are going to their meetings and reporting, are now being detained," Sanz said.

She promised that immigration is a top priority on Ros-Lehtinen's agenda.

"Unfortunately, a lot of immigrants are facing deportations. They have different issues with their DACA, with their work permits. We see dozens of cases every week and it's sad and we try to help everyone," Sanz said.  


About the Author:

Sanela Sabovic joined Local 10 News in September 2012 as an assignment editor and associate producer. In August 2015, she became a full-time reporter and fill-in traffic reporter. Sanela holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications with a concentration in radio, television and film from DePaul University.