The Obama administration announced today that Immigration and Customs Enforcement should use their discretion to not pursue deportation or removal against "Low Priority" individuals that may be out of status or undocumented.
Those that are deemed "Low Priority", for example, would be students that are
Dream Act eligible.
The Obama administration announced Thursday that undocumented students and other low-priority immigration offenders will not be targeted for deportation under enforcement programs.
So many of these kids have brothers, sisters, parents and even children that are U.S. citizens or green card holders. Deporting them would only cause families to be separated and would obviously cause unbelievable hardship on everybody involved. So many of these kids don't even really remember the country they were born in.
The move means that those who are in deportation proceedings will have their cases reviewed and, if they are set aside as low-priority, could possibly be given work permits. Low-priority individuals will also be less likely to end up in deportation proceedings in the first place, officials said.
This makes so much sense. I'm glad the administration has finally done something significant that is not just getting rid of any undocumented immigrants because they happen to be out of status.
A recent Memo by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) asked for common sense enforcement.
Back in June, Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), John Morton, reminded ICE officials of their duty and obligation to use good judgment in the prosecution of immigration cases.
Now good judgment may become administration policy.
Last year I did a Diary about the Dream Act. Obama at the time said that the failure of passage of the Dream Act was his biggest disappointment. Finally he seems to be doing something that is not a disappointment to the immigrant community.
Although there are different versions out there, this is a summary of the basic Dream Act proposals. You:
Must have entered the United States before the age of 16.
Must have been present in the United States for at least five (5) consecutive years prior to enactment of the bill.
Must have graduated from a United States high school.
UPDATE Already the push back by the haters. How is it the FAIR gets to be the spokesperson for the other side of the immigration debate?
Must be between the ages of 12 and 35 at the time of application.
Must have good moral character .
If you have these qualification then you can apply for a temporary legalization. Only 6 years later can you get your green card. And that's only if you still qualify. And you must also have finished two years of military service or two years of college to get that green card.
Thanks to Senator Dick Durbin for working so hard for so long for this vulnerable community.
And it's not just Dream Act eligible immigrants that could benefit from this change of policy. It could be husbands and wives or other family members of citizens or legal residents who have something pending with immigration, but are currently not in status.
If we can't have Comprehensive Immigration Reform because the Republicans don't want to do anything that could help immigrants, at least we can have a logical enforcement policy. Thank you President Barack Obama. I'm sure there will be a lot of criticism because of this courageous decision, but we have to have our President's back on this one.
Already the immigrant haters are coming out of the woodwork.
“Today’s policy announcement clearly demonstrates the Obama administration’s defiance of both the constitutional separation of powers and the will of the American public in its relentless effort to gain amnesty for illegal aliens,” stated FAIR President Dan Stein, president of the organization.
What I can't understand is why the Boston Globe and so many other MSM sources use hate groups as their source for the other side of the story.