Trump administration instructed Ryan to keep Hispanic Caucus out of ICE meeting

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/immigration/2017/02/16/hispanic-democrats-barred-meeting-ice-director-amid-increased-raids

WASHINGTON — Simmering tensions in the Capitol about President Donald Trump’s immigration executive orders boiled over Thursday, as several members of the Hispanic Caucus were kicked out of a meeting with a top immigration official by staffers of Speaker Paul Ryan.

Those who were allowed in described a combative encounter with promises of many more arrests and deportations to come.

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The Trump administration — either the White House or Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly — was given authority over which Democrats would be able to attend the meeting, said Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M.

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AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, said the meeting was limited at the request of the Department of Homeland Security to members with “jurisdictional interests in immigration enforcement.” Because the Hispanic Caucus wanted to be involved in the meeting — which it had initially called for — Strong said Lujan Grisham was allowed to attend on behalf of the caucus.

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Initially, no Hispanic Caucus members were going to be allowed at the meeting, Pelosi said, “until we explained to them that that was not going to qualify as a meeting.”

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