To start off National Hispanic Heritage Month, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation recognizing the “unique threads” made by Latinos.
Obama said the Hispanic community added to U.S. diversity and helped shape the country’s “national character as a people of limitless possibility.”
“Hispanics contribute to our Nation’s success in extraordinary ways — they serve in the military and government, attend schools across America, and strengthen the economy,” Obama stated in his proclamation, recognizing that many Hispanic men are fathers with two jobs trying to better their children’s lives and Hispanic women take risks to create a business.
Obama not only recognized U.S.-citizen Hispanics, but also those with legal permanent residency. The president acknowledged that many lawful permanent residents seek to naturalize and become U.S. citizens.
Obama’s proclamation went on to address immigration. He said the U.S. has a “centuries-old tradition” of welcoming immigrants, and he took action on fixing the broken immigration system through executive action on November 2014 with the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the creation of the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA), which would provide 4.9 million eligible undocumented immigrants temporary, but renewable, stay in the U.S.
In referencing DAPA, Obama stated, “The policies include offering temporary relief to parents of children who are United States citizens or lawful permanent residents so they could come out of the shadows, get right with the law, and further contribute to America’s success while also providing for their loved ones — because as a Nation that values families, we must work together to keep them together.”
Obama referenced the creation of the federal interagency White House Task Force on New Americans, aimed at strengthening and enhancing efforts to integrate immigrants into the community.
Click here to read more about President Barack Obama Proclamation.
