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Worried Girl Asks Michelle Obama if Her Mother Will Be Deported
By ROBERT MACKEY
Michelle Obama fielded an awkward question on the immigration debate on Wednesday. It came from a worried young girl who seemed to say that her mother is an illegal immigrant. The encounter, caught on video, came during a visit by the first lady and Margarita Zavala, the wife of Mexican President Felipe Calderón to a second-grade class in Silver Spring, Md.
When the two visitors took questions from the children, one little girl said, “My mom said, I think, she says that Barack Obama’s taking everybody away that doesn’t has papers.” After Mrs. Obama replied, “Yeah, well, that’s something we have to work on, right, to make sure that people can be here with the right kind of papers, right?” the girl said “But my mom doesn’t have [papers].”
The girl’s final word is difficult to hear on video, because a boy next to her asked “How do you make papers?” at the same moment, but Mrs. Obama seemed to acknowledge that there was a problem, telling the girl, “Well, we have to work on that. We have to fix that. Everybody’s got to work together on that in Congress to make sure that happens.”
Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change, which has been critical of the Obama administration told Jonathan Weisman of the Wall Street Journal:
The little girl was right. The truth is that more mothers and fathers were deported in Obama’s first year as president than were deported in the last year under Bush. Mr. Obama, who so eloquently spoke of the pain and anguish caused by tearing families apart as a candidate, as president has only ramped up that pain and anguish.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Update: The Associated Press reported on Thursday that the federal government is not pursuing the child’s mother.</span>
A Department of Homeland Security official said federal immigration authorities are not pursuing the family. D.H.S. spokesman Matt Chandler said in an e-mailed statement Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations “are based on solid law enforcement work and not classroom Q-and-As.” Chandler added the agency “prioritizes criminal aliens who pose a threat to our communities.”
Brian Edwards, chief of staff for the Montgomery County public school system, said the system is protecting the child. “The girl is in school and we’re doing everything we can to keep her safe,” Edwards said.
By ROBERT MACKEY
Michelle Obama fielded an awkward question on the immigration debate on Wednesday. It came from a worried young girl who seemed to say that her mother is an illegal immigrant. The encounter, caught on video, came during a visit by the first lady and Margarita Zavala, the wife of Mexican President Felipe Calderón to a second-grade class in Silver Spring, Md.
When the two visitors took questions from the children, one little girl said, “My mom said, I think, she says that Barack Obama’s taking everybody away that doesn’t has papers.” After Mrs. Obama replied, “Yeah, well, that’s something we have to work on, right, to make sure that people can be here with the right kind of papers, right?” the girl said “But my mom doesn’t have [papers].”
The girl’s final word is difficult to hear on video, because a boy next to her asked “How do you make papers?” at the same moment, but Mrs. Obama seemed to acknowledge that there was a problem, telling the girl, “Well, we have to work on that. We have to fix that. Everybody’s got to work together on that in Congress to make sure that happens.”
Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change, which has been critical of the Obama administration told Jonathan Weisman of the Wall Street Journal:
The little girl was right. The truth is that more mothers and fathers were deported in Obama’s first year as president than were deported in the last year under Bush. Mr. Obama, who so eloquently spoke of the pain and anguish caused by tearing families apart as a candidate, as president has only ramped up that pain and anguish.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Update: The Associated Press reported on Thursday that the federal government is not pursuing the child’s mother.</span>
A Department of Homeland Security official said federal immigration authorities are not pursuing the family. D.H.S. spokesman Matt Chandler said in an e-mailed statement Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations “are based on solid law enforcement work and not classroom Q-and-As.” Chandler added the agency “prioritizes criminal aliens who pose a threat to our communities.”
Brian Edwards, chief of staff for the Montgomery County public school system, said the system is protecting the child. “The girl is in school and we’re doing everything we can to keep her safe,” Edwards said.
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