Immigration protesters demonstrated outside U.S. Rep. Peter King's home Sunday afternoon trying to get the lawmaker to take a more active role in immigration legislation. King fired back in a statement saying he is working across party lines for reforms and that the protest has "no philosophical or moral basis."
During the demonstration, about 40 protestors called for a "clean Dream Act," aimed at protecting those involved in the Deferred Action for Children Arrivals program, Newsday reported. They called for permanent protections for beneficiaries of the Temporary Protected Status program, the newspaper stated.
"We need him to take more action," Walter Barrientos, Long Island organizer with the Brentwood office of Make the Road New York, told Newsday. "Our families are not able to celebrate the holidays."
King, who was not home at the time of the protest, addressed the demonstration in an email.
"This (the protest), of course, is classless and totally bad form," King said in the email. "Most people have the basic decency not to bother other people at their home. So this says a lot about the mindset of the demonstrators we're dealing with.
"Fortunately the Nassau Police were there to ensure that order was maintained. Too bad though that my neighbors have to put up with this type of intrusion. As for me, Rosemary and I were in Lynbrook at Pearsall's Station at a birthday celebration for Grace Dewey the long suffering wife of my high school classmate and Fordham track coach Tom Dewey," the email continued.
King said he is already in talks with Republicans and Democrats to protect DACA and TPS, charging that Make the Road has other motives with the protest.
"The real basis for the Make the Road demonstration is that this group opposes my support for strong border security and for standing with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), HSI (Homeland Security Investigations), and Homeland Security in carrying out raids against MS-13," King stated.
"I am committed to destroying MS-13. Anyone who honestly cares about saving innocent lives in the immigrant community should thank God every night for the outstanding work being carried out by ICE and all the elements of local, state and federal law enforcement. I will never back down in my support for law enforcement and will never cease my efforts against MS-13," he continued.
Fox News reported that "Operation Raging Bull," conducted Oct. 8-Nov. 11 across the United States, resulted in 214 arrests of the street gang known as MS-13, which is entrenched in Central America. HSI and ICE worked in conjunction with local and federal authorities in those arrests, officials told Fox News.
More than 1,200 gang members have been convicted in 2017 and about 4,000 have been arrested and charged, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement, according to Fox News.
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