Immigrants’ Rights

LOS ANGELES, CA – Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of MALDEF, issued the statement below in response to a radical proposal by Republican Sens. David Vitter (La.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) that flies in the face of the Fourteenth Amendment’s grant of citizenship to those born in the United States of America. The constitutional right of citizenship at birth, rooted in the hard-fought American values of fairness and equality, should not be subject to political and discriminatory whims. The Vitter-Paul proposal would strip the long-standing grant of citizenship to all born on U.S. soil, and would limit citizenship to those (1) with a parent who is a U.S. citizen; (2) with a parent who is a lawful permanent resident residing in the U.S. or serving on active-duty in the U.S. Armed Forces; or (3) naturalized under immigration law.

Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President and General Counsel, condemns cowardly intimidation tactics and calls for full investigation

LOS ANGELES, CA – Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President and General Counsel, issued the following statement in response to an address on comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) given by President Barack Obama at American University School of International Service in Washington, D.C.

Raids will augment fear and panic already felt in light of new anti-immigrant legislation

MALDEF commends Chairman Schumer’s leadership on long overdue issue