Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez, of Chevy Chase, recently joined activists outside the Department of Homeland Security's immigration headquarters.
Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-District 18), a Chevy Chase resident, recently made headlines when she joined activists from Casa de Marylandat the Department of Homeland Security's immigration headquarters last Monday afternoon.
The activists "say the agency is not enforcing legislation that promises to focus on deporting major criminals instead of a broader focus on all undocumented immigrants," WAMU reported.
One of the protesters, Hector Reyes, was brought to Virginia illegally 15 years ago when he was a child.
"[Immigration officials are] trying to send me [back] to a place that I probably don't even remember, and also don't have any family there left," he told WAMU.
"Another protester, Helia De La Cruz, has been separated from her children—who are American citizens—while she fights her deportation charges," WAMU added.
Cases like these have become all too common, said Gutierrez—who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador and was naturalized in the 1970s, when it was easier to gain citizenship.
"We have record numbers—record numbers—in this administration of deportation and breaking up of families," Gutierrez told WAMU.
She added that the police should focus on finding "real criminals—murderers, rapists ... I'm going to be the first one that's going to support that," she told WAMU.
