Friday, August 24, 2012

Trumka slams ICE union-led lawsuit against Obama administration

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka slammed the lawsuit filed by 10 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents against the Obama administration over its deferred deportation plan, Thursday.
Led by Chris Crane, president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council — the union representing over 7,000 ICE agents and employees — the agents filed their challenge to the Obama policy in federal court, claiming that it forces them to break their oath to uphold the law. At least nine of the 10 are members of the ICE union.
According to Trumka, however, it is the agents who are out of line.
“These agents are working with some of the most anti-immigrant forces in the country, forces that have long sowed division and destruction,” he said in a statement.
Crane explained on Thursday that the suit is based on the legal ramifications of the administration’s plan. And while it is indeed focused on the implications of the policy, there are political connections — Kansas Secretary of State and Mitt Romney adviser Kris Kobach is the lead attorney, and low-immigration group NumbersUSA is backing the effort.
“We have officers who are under threat of losing their jobs and retirement if they refuse to use what we think are unlawful orders,” Crane said, according to the LA Times.
Trumka, who endorsed President Barack Obama in March, blamed conservatives for immigration problems.

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