Pelosi on meeting with Dreamers in El Paso: ‘American patriotism at its best’

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi described her meeting with immigration activists and “Dreamers” Wednesday morning in El Paso as “American patriotism at its best.”

The House minority leader cited former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, saying immigration allows the U.S. to stay competitive and remain the world leader.

“It was a morning of great patriotism. The work that is being done in El Paso is for the dignity and worth of every person,” Pelosi said, thanking local activists, attorneys and the El Paso community for the work done to help immigrants.

The so-called “Dreamers” are young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents. Many are fighting to reinstate Obama-era protections from deportation.

Three federal judges have ruled against President Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, but the Associated Press reports a new lawsuit was filed in Texas before Judge Andrew Hanen, the same judge who ended another Obama effort to expand protections for immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Hanen will hear arguments on the case Wednesday.

If he rules DACA is invalid, it would conflict with the other rulings in favor of the program. Legal experts say that conflict would draw the attention of higher courts or the U.S. Supreme Court, which might side with Hanen. About 700,000 immigrants are covered by DACA, the AP reports.

Pelosi criticized the Trump Administration on immigration, claiming there has been “a lot of discretion by the executive branch based on politics, not law.” Pelosi told reporters she has “faith in the Constitution” and hopes attorneys battling the administration on immigration will have their day in court. “It is also important to win in November because it gives us the leverage to help families who crossed the desert to escape violence,” the democratic leader said.

Pelosi later cited evangelical leaders who recently told a congressional committee that “America’s refugee resettlement program is the crown jewel of the world.”

Pelosi addressed the media at the Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services building in Central El Paso.

Hanns Sassenfeld, part of a group of conservative protesters outside, told ABC-7 he was disappointed by Pelosi’s visit. “She’s highlighting the issues on the border and she’s failed to pass any legislation to address the issue. And so we’re upset about that. We think Congress should do its job and pass comprehensive reform,” he said.

Local immigration attorneys described their meeting with Pelosi as very positive. They said Pelosi promised to continue a dialogue with border communities to gain a better understanding of the immigration issues affecting the border.

“We are not against enforcement, but we are in favor of balancing our enforcement with checks and balances,” said Fernando Garcia, executive director for the Border Network for Human Rights.

Other local attorneys raised concerns about the victims of domestic or gang violence in Central America no longer qualifying for asylum after recent policy changes implemented by the Trump Administration.

Immigration Attorney Carlos Spector said the federal government needs to reform ICE, not eliminate it. Spector accused Trump of taking immigration judges out of the process.

“Right now, the administration is acting as an immigration agency,” Spector said, “We have a police agency (ICE) controlling the judges.”

The Trump Administration has said it is working to hire more than a hundred new immigration judges to speed up the asylum process for immigrants held at the border.

During a recent visit to Las Cruces, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the administration would prosecute those who cross into the U.S. illegally. “If you break into our country, we will prosecute you … The Constitution does not apply outside our nation’s states. We don’t have to apologize for anything.”

Sessions said one of the goals of his department is to eliminate the backlog in immigration cases. The justice department plans to add 100 new immigration judges to border areas so that it can process immigrations cases faster. “We will be able to handle a lot more cases a lot more efficiently. We are directing them to complete at least 700 cases a year,” Sessions said.