Warren: “I am open to suspending deportations”

Senator Elizabeth Warren is saying she has a way to maneuver lawmakers to the table on immigration. Speaking during a forum Friday, Warren claimed she would put a halt on deportations in an effort to pressure Congress into passing immigration reform legislation.

“I am open to suspending deportations,” stated Warren. “We need comprehensive immigration reform and I’ve got a plan for that.”

Her proposed moratorium on deportations came after she claimed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency needs restructuring. She also claimed ICE officials do not make the country safer.

“When ICE comes into our communities and takes our neighbors — our friends, our family members — they do not make this country safer,” said Warren.

The 2020 hopeful added she wants to expand legal immigration and create a pathway for “all of our neighbors and friends” who want to stay in the U.S.

Warren did not go into specific details on her plan, but said she wants to focus on other threats to border security that won’t “tear families apart.”

“We need ICE and Customs and Border Patrol focused on real threats from terrorism — container shipping that comes into the United States (and) contraband that we have to worry about,” stated Warren. “There are places that we should focus for our safety, but tearing families apart is not that.”

Her announcement comes one day after Senator Bernie Sanders put forth his own immigration plan for 2020. He suggested ICE become part of the Justice Department and promised — if elected — to halt deportations until a “thorough audit of current and past practices and policies is complete.”