Obama administration officials announced on Friday they are proposing a fix to a Catch-22 in immigration law that could spare hundreds of thousands of American citizens from prolonged separations from illegal immigrant spouses and children.
The move was greeted with unusually broad praise from immigration lawyers and immigrant and Latino groups, which have been critical of the high rate of deportations under President Obama.
Immigrant-rights groups called the move a “tremendous” victory while those who favor a crackdown on illegal immigration said it is another step in what they describe as administrative amnesty.
Homeland Security officials, who announced the change in the Federal Register, said the change only applies when an illegal immigrant has a family member living in the U.S. legally and who would be subject to “hardship” if they were separated from each other.
Under the current system, it takes an average of six months for the government to judge waiver cases, and illegal immigrant applicants are required to go home during that period. The new rule means the illegal immigrant can stay in the U.S. during the adjudication period.
The fix is one of a number of recent measures by the administration that do not require the approval of Congress, designed to ease the effects on immigrant communities of contradictory or outmoded statutes. White House officials have been seeking ways to shore up sagging support for the president, particularly among Latinos.
In essence, officials at Citizenship and Immigration Services are proposing to change the procedures by which illegal immigrants with American family members apply for legal residency — getting a document known as a green card — allowing a crucial early step to take place in the United States rather than in the immigrant’s home country.
The government accepted the extreme hardship cases of about 70% of applicants last year. But this would make the process actually work, turning an ordeal that lasts months or years into one that lasts days or weeks.
Combined with the deportation review of about 300,000 cases, which is still getting off the ground in the nation’s immigration courts, the Administration is basically following Gutierrez’ recommendations for what they can do outside of the legislative process to make the immigration system work better and help keep families united.
The new rule would make no change in the situation of illegal immigrants who do not have immediate American family members. White House officials acknowledge that there will be no progress before the November elections on legislation the president supports to give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants.
This is not “back-door amnesty,” as Republicans will surely charge.
Ultimately, you will need a legislative solution to the problem of 11-12 million undocumented immigrants in the country. As a candidate, Obama pledged to reform the U.S. immigration system: a position that earned him wide support among Mexican-Americans in the 2008 presidential election. His efforts have been stymied, however, by congressional Republicans who’ve filibustered every attempt at reform.
Latino groups, many of which have been highly critical of Obama for failing to move aggressively on immigration issues, were delighted. The administration's move is a "sensible and compassionate proposal [that] helps bring much-needed sanity to an often senseless process," said Janet Murguia, president and chief executive of the National Council of La Raza, which describes itself as the nation's largest Latino civil rights and advocacy group.
“This will open up a huge door to bring a large number of people into the light,” said Charles Kuck, an immigration lawyer in Atlanta who is a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Based on their caseloads and census data, lawyers estimate that many hundreds of thousands of Americans are married to illegal immigrants.
Obama won two-thirds of the Latino vote in the 2008 presidential race, according to exit polls, and he needs a similar margin in November to win reelection. Campaign strategists have identified several paths to capturing the 270 electoral votes he needs: All require a strong showing among Latino voters to win swing states including Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and Florida.
The move left Republicans infuriated. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the new rule along with other moves by the president had "granted back-door amnesty to potentially millions of illegal immigrants without a vote of Congress."
Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called it “an abuse of administrative powers.” Mr. Smith was an author of legislation in 1996 that created the 3- and 10-year bars to return by illegal immigrants.
Recent polling by the Pew Research Center found that 58 percent of Latinos disapprove of the president’s immigration policies, but they vastly support Obama for reelection over potential challenger Mitt Romney, the former Republican Governor of Massachusetts. Pew estimated that 21.7 million Latinos will be eligible to vote in the 2012 presidential election, an increase of about 2 million over the 2008 election.
Homeland Security officials, who announced the change in the Federal Register, said the change only applies when an illegal immigrant has a family member living in the U.S. legally and who would be subject to “hardship” if they were separated from each other.
Under the current system, it takes an average of six months for the government to judge waiver cases, and illegal immigrant applicants are required to go home during that period. The new rule means the illegal immigrant can stay in the U.S. during the adjudication period.
The fix is one of a number of recent measures by the administration that do not require the approval of Congress, designed to ease the effects on immigrant communities of contradictory or outmoded statutes. White House officials have been seeking ways to shore up sagging support for the president, particularly among Latinos.
In essence, officials at Citizenship and Immigration Services are proposing to change the procedures by which illegal immigrants with American family members apply for legal residency — getting a document known as a green card — allowing a crucial early step to take place in the United States rather than in the immigrant’s home country.
The government accepted the extreme hardship cases of about 70% of applicants last year. But this would make the process actually work, turning an ordeal that lasts months or years into one that lasts days or weeks.
Combined with the deportation review of about 300,000 cases, which is still getting off the ground in the nation’s immigration courts, the Administration is basically following Gutierrez’ recommendations for what they can do outside of the legislative process to make the immigration system work better and help keep families united.
The new rule would make no change in the situation of illegal immigrants who do not have immediate American family members. White House officials acknowledge that there will be no progress before the November elections on legislation the president supports to give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants.
This is not “back-door amnesty,” as Republicans will surely charge.
Ultimately, you will need a legislative solution to the problem of 11-12 million undocumented immigrants in the country. As a candidate, Obama pledged to reform the U.S. immigration system: a position that earned him wide support among Mexican-Americans in the 2008 presidential election. His efforts have been stymied, however, by congressional Republicans who’ve filibustered every attempt at reform.
Latino groups, many of which have been highly critical of Obama for failing to move aggressively on immigration issues, were delighted. The administration's move is a "sensible and compassionate proposal [that] helps bring much-needed sanity to an often senseless process," said Janet Murguia, president and chief executive of the National Council of La Raza, which describes itself as the nation's largest Latino civil rights and advocacy group.
“This will open up a huge door to bring a large number of people into the light,” said Charles Kuck, an immigration lawyer in Atlanta who is a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Based on their caseloads and census data, lawyers estimate that many hundreds of thousands of Americans are married to illegal immigrants.
Obama won two-thirds of the Latino vote in the 2008 presidential race, according to exit polls, and he needs a similar margin in November to win reelection. Campaign strategists have identified several paths to capturing the 270 electoral votes he needs: All require a strong showing among Latino voters to win swing states including Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and Florida.
The move left Republicans infuriated. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the new rule along with other moves by the president had "granted back-door amnesty to potentially millions of illegal immigrants without a vote of Congress."
Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called it “an abuse of administrative powers.” Mr. Smith was an author of legislation in 1996 that created the 3- and 10-year bars to return by illegal immigrants.
Recent polling by the Pew Research Center found that 58 percent of Latinos disapprove of the president’s immigration policies, but they vastly support Obama for reelection over potential challenger Mitt Romney, the former Republican Governor of Massachusetts. Pew estimated that 21.7 million Latinos will be eligible to vote in the 2012 presidential election, an increase of about 2 million over the 2008 election.
But Obama made a decision about that immmigration problems because theres a lot of people who wants to be there in USA .
ReplyDeleteUS Immigration Services