Advertisement

Week In Review: Immigration Enforcement, Donald Trump Jr.'s Emails and Senate Health Care Bill

25:31
Download Audio
Resume
Demonstrators gathered Thursday at Boston City Hall to protest the detention of Francisco Rodriguez. (Shannon Dooling/WBUR)
Demonstrators gathered Thursday at Boston City Hall to protest the detention of Francisco Rodriguez. (Shannon Dooling/WBUR)

“Free him now! Free him now! Free him now!"

This was the chant yesterday outside Boston City Hall, where a crowd of protesters demanded the release of Francisco Rodriguez, an undocumented immigrant who had been working as a janitor at MIT and who now faces deportation.

Rodriguez fled gang violence in his native El Salvador and came to the United States in 2006. Immigration authorities denied his asylum request but allowed him to stay in the country, where he has been working, and where he has two U.S.-born children, including his 10-year-old daughter Melanie, who spoke at yesterday's rally.

“The President said he was only taking criminals out of this country," she said. "My dad doesn't have any criminal records. I hope and I’m gonna pray for my dad to be together with all my family again.”

Greg Romanovsky, the chair of the New England chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, also criticized the Trump Administration. “This administration seems more keen on scoring political points by picking up everyone they can find," he said. "And the easiest people to find are usually the good folks who report to their appointments and otherwise follow the government’s instructions.”

Rodriguez could be deported in the next couple of weeks.

Our week in review panel also looks at the revelations of Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian attorney who he believed was going to provide damaging information on Hillary Clinton, and the Senate Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Guests

Arline Isaacson, political consultant and co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus.

John Carroll, professor of communication at Boston University and senior analyst for WBUR. He tweets @johncarrol_bu.

This segment aired on July 14, 2017.

Related:

Advertisement

More from Radio Boston

Listen Live
Close