Schakowsky Letter Calls On President To Stop Deporting Undocumented Family Members Of Active Military

Washington, D.C.–U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) led twenty-two of her House colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter to President Bush today urging him to end his Administration's policy of deporting undocumented family members of those serving in the military. In June, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began deportation proceedings against Yaderline Hiraldo Jimenez, the wife of Army Spec. Alex Jimenez, who has been missing in Iraq since his unit was attacked by insurgents in May 2007.

Following intense media pressure and public outrage, the DHS dropped the deportation case against Mrs. Jimenez, but the policy that allows such deportation remains in place. The signatories of the letter are calling on the President to change the DHS' policy and protect families of those serving in the military from deportation.