Mother of Girl who Questioned Michelle Obama on Immigration Won't be Deported
When a second-grade schoolgirl blurted out to First Lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday that her mother does not have immigration papers, questions swirled as to what, if anything, would consequently happen to her mother.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirms that the mother of the girl Obama spoke with yesterday will not be deported, CBS News Producer Carter Yang reports.
"ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is a federal law enforcement agency that focuses on smart, effective immigration eforcement that prioritizes criminal aliens who pose a threat to our communities," DHS Assistant Press Secretary Matt Chandler said. "Our investigations are based on solid law enforcement work and not classroom Q and As."
The first lady was put on the spot in a visit with Mexican First Lady Margarita Zavala to the New Hampshire Estates Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland.
While taking questions from a group of students, Obama was told by a little girl: "My mom... she says that Barack Obama is taking everybody away that doesn't have papers."
"Yeah, well that's something that we have to work on, right?" Obama responded. "To make sure that people can be here with the right kind of papers, right? That's exactly right."
The little girl continued, "But my mom doesn't have any papers."
Obama replied, "Well, we have to work on that. We have to fix that, and everybody's got to work together in Congress to make sure that happens."
