Workers protest injunction on Obama’s immigration orders

Carrying posters supporting immigration, including one shaped like a large broken heart, a group of about 40 people marched from the state capitol to the Governor’s Mansion on Saturday asking Gov. Greg Abbott to “have a heart” when it came to his impact on immigrant families.

The event, organized by the Workers Defense Project, was a response to an earlier injunction — for a lawsuit filed by Abbott when he was the attorney general — by a federal judge on Monday that stalled the implementation of the executive orders issued by President Barack Obama in November. The executive actions were for programs that would have provided relief from deportation to about 5 million unauthorized immigrants in the country.

The Workers Defense Project fights for fair treatment of low-income workers, many of whom are undocumented. Many of the group’s members would have qualified for the now-stalled Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Legal Residents program, which would have granted protection to about 4 million people.

“Governor, my heart is broken,” said Virginia Badillo, one of the group’s members, as she stood outside the governor’s mansion. “We build your houses, we clean your houses and we make your beds… Look at who you’re hurting.”

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/workers-protest-injunction-on-obamas-immigration-o/nkGQC/