NEWARK, NJ - Senator Bob Menendez (DN.J.) issued the following statement in response to reports indicating the possibility of a new series of immigration raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE acronym in English) for one month throughout the country.

Reports indicate that the program will focus on collecting raids mothers, children and minors who are 18 years of age, mostly from Central America, and enter the United States after January 1, 2014.

In January the Department of Homeland Security (DHS for its acronym in English) conducted similar raids highly controversial immigration, which resulted in the arrest of 121 immigrants, mostly women and children from Central America, who came to the United States fleeing violence in the region.

"At a time when we should be defending our values ​​and ideals as Americans and fighting against xenophobic rhetoric being propagated by the party of Donald Trump, is truly daunting read reports of possibly deportation raids directed against mothers and children Central Americans in the US recently forced to leave their home countries to avoid certain death. "

"As I said before, trying to send a message of deterrence by deportation to force people who may have a valid case of shelter and protection is not only unwise, it is truly disturbing and anti-American. The nations of the Triangle North of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have the highest rates of homicide in the world, and we must recognize that this is a humanitarian crisis caused by those who believe it is better to run for their lives and risking death, to stay and face certain death. "

"Instead of eagerly deporting vulnerable populations in our country, we must address the causes of this hemispheric crisis root, providing alternative shelters in the region, expanding programs refugee resettlement, and encouraging new partnerships to ensure the welfare, security, and peace of these families in their home countries. But this simply is not the time to close our eyes to the sad reality facing these mothers and children, and the cruel insistence of the administration in dealing with this crisis alone through a lens border security and immigration enforcement will continue to fail and contradicts its own commitment to deport criminals rather than families. "

"I will continue fighting to protect the long tradition of our nation to defend and protect refugees around the world. We must give priority to due process fair and meaningful for these children and families in Central America seeking asylum."

On January 21, 2016, Senator Menendez and twenty Democratic senators and 146 House Democrats sent letters to President Obama denouncing the first round of immigration raids.