House Democrats are demanding the Trump administration reschedule a meeting with immigration officials that party lawmakers said was abruptly canceled.
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other Democrats arranged a meeting with the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Thomas Homan, about the recent string of arrests of illegal immigrants. But Homan canceled after the CHC expanded attendance at the meeting.
“I’m very disappointed, actually angry, that the administration canceled the meeting at the last minute,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. “We need to get to the bottom of it. We need to find out whether the Interior Enforcement proposal has defects, and the way to do that is through transparency, not the way we’ve seen with this presidency.”
The arrests, according to ICE, were aimed at people with criminal records, in particular those considered dangerous or violent.
Lofgren said the order “is a very broad description of who should be removed, including anyone here without authorization.”
Last year, President Obama’s effort to carry out arrests of illegal immigrants led to quick and furious backlash from House and Senate Democrats, who held frequent meetings with ICE officials and Obama administration officials, leading to an end to the raids.
