Immigrant and faith groups petitioned President Obama on Thursday to pardon illegal immigrants and grant clemency to federal prisoners convicted on low-level drug charges.
During a White House meeting, the groups presented Obama administration officials with a 34,000-signature petition.
“I’m asking the president to pardon undocumented immigrants, including my parents who have been in this country and have worked extremely hard,” said Faith in Florida’s Nancy Palacios, who attended the meeting.
“Immigrants come to this country seeking to provide for their families; and like other people, they want peace of mind,” she said. “The president has a moral obligation in this moment.”
The coalition said Obama must protect immigrants allowed to remain in the country through Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program and their parents.
The groups are pressing Obama “to do more to protect communities in the crosshairs of President-Elect Trump’s campaign promises.”
Group leaders acknowledge they are asking a lot of Obama in his waning days in office.
“We know we’re making a bold ask in calling on the administration to consider the lives, families and communities that have been destroyed through discriminatory sentencing policies,” said former inmate Hasshan Batts, who attended the meeting and advocates on behalf of current and former prisoners.
