Booker pledges to allow ‘dreamers’ to remain in the U.S. – NJ.com

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, issuing a detailed proposal Tuesday on immigration policy, said he would allow those brought illegally to the U.S. as children to remain in the country.

Booker, who seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, said he would act to undo President Donald Trump’s attempt to remove existing protections against deportation for the so-called dreamers, who have grown up in the U.S. Trump had revoked President Barack Obama’s executive order allowing them to stay.

Booker also pledged to stop treating immigrants as criminals, act to eliminate most detention of those trying to enter the country, close down facilities run by private corporations and stop contracting with local governments.

“When kids are being stripped away from their parents and held in cages, I will not wait for Congress to solve this crisis,” Booker said. “Our country must have an immigration system that reflects our values, not one that strips dignity away from people fleeing danger, threats, and violence.”

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The Essex County detention center, which has a contract from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold detainees, including immigrants facing deportation hearings, was singled out by a federal government watchdog for numerous violations.

Booker has issued several detailed policy proposals during his campaign, including on gun control and criminal justice.

He said he would try to work with Congress to overhaul U.S. immigration laws, but would use his executive powers to act in the absence of congressional action. Obama did the same after House Republicans refused to consider bipartisan legislation that overwhelming passed the Senate and would have strengthen border security as well as provide a path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants.

“On day one of my presidency, I will take immediate steps to end this administration’s moral vandalism,” Booker said. “And although there are limits on what we can do to reverse the damage that has already been done to the lives of thousands and to communities across our country, we can put an end to the horror, and turn the page to a new chapter of our history.”

Booker said he would make it easier for immigrants to get lawyers, and tell U.S. attorneys to stop prosecuting most cases of people entering the country illegally, unless they posed a risk to public safety.

He also would overhaul the practices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, which he said were “terrorizing immigrants in their homes and communities,” allow more refugees to settle in the U.S., allow more families to seek asylum from their home countries, and try to address the causes that have led to so many people trying to emigrate to the U.S. despite Trump’s efforts to curb immigration.

Under Trump, children were removed from their parents who crossed the border and applied for asylum.

In addition, unauthorized immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for years and raised their families here suddenly have been arrested and targeted for deportation.

Booker in February voted against a spending bill to reopen the federal government that included a boost in funding for the Department of Homeland Security. He said he could not support funding immigration agencies “with little oversight or appropriate guardrails.”

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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