A coalition of grassroots immigrant rights groups held a press event in Washington today to criticize the Obama Administration for escalating immigrant deportations and call for an immediate end to all of them until the government enacts comprehensive immigration reform.

Angelica Salas, the executive director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has increased over 60% since the beginning of the Obama Administration’s term, what comes out to 1,000 immigrants a day. She warned that Hispanic voters supported the Obama candidacy because they expected a change in policy, in particular an end to the raids and the separation of families. But these coalition members allege that this has not happened, and that they are speaking out in public to say “enough”. They highlighted Obama’s remarks as a candidate, when he said, “But we cannot – and should not – deport 12 million people. That would turn America into something we’re not; something we don’t want to be. While we work to strengthen our borders, we need a practical solution for the problem of 12 million people who are here without documentation – many of whom have lived and worked here for years.”

One student, an American citizen, detailed the raid that detained and deported her mother, and said that ICE followed her from her home to her school during that time. She pleaded with the President to stop separating families and live up to his promises as a candidate.

The Administration has ended many workplace raids in exchange for “paper/desk raids,” auditing businesses who may hire undocumented workers. The enforcement aimed at employers’ I-9 requirements ends up targeting the same workers and their families, and immigration reform advocates say that it can be based on flawed data in the Social Security Administration.

The President plans to meet today with Sens. Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham about a comprehensive reform bill, but the immigrant rights community obviously feels sufficiently roused to speak publicly on the topic. They have planned a March 21 demonstration in Washington that could bring tens of thousands to the city to call for reform.