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Eli Kantor is a labor, employment and immigration law attorney. He has been practicing labor, employment and immigration law for more than 36 years. He has been featured in articles about labor, employment and immigration law in the L.A. Times, Business Week.com and Daily Variety. He is a regular columnist for the Daily Journal. Telephone (310)274-8216; eli@elikantorlaw.com. For more information, visit beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com and and beverlyhillsemploymentlaw.com

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Monday, January 23, 2012

As Pilot Program Ends, Republicans Pledge to Oppose New Immigration Policy

CQ (By David Harrison): Republican lawmakers vowed to continue to fight a new White House immigration policy after administration officials wrapped up a pilot program this week recommending that 14 percent of deportation cases in two cities should not be pursued.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arm of the Department of Homeland Security completed an expedited review of cases in Denver and Baltimore, a first step toward implementing a controversial policy announced in August that would ease immigration enforcement for some undocumented people.

Government lawyers in the two cities reviewed 11,682 cases and determined that 1,637 should not be pursued, according to DHS data cited by lawmakers. Obama administration officials did not respond to requests for confirmation.

It remains to be seen whether the pilot program will be expanded nationwide. Roughly 300,000 people are currently in deportation proceedings, according to immigration lawyers, and the Obama administration has said it can only deport 400,000 a year out of the roughly 11 million people living in the country illegally.

The new policy aims to focus deportation efforts on those who commit serious crimes while in the country. For example, the administration has broadly said that such deportable offenses would include violent criminals or repeat offenders.

Some undocumented immigrants who have not committed such crimes would see some pressure lifted through “prosecutorial discretion,” although it would not change their eligibility for green cards or work authorization. Officials have said they would grant prosecutorial discretion to people with family ties in the country, those who are enrolled in school or college, and those who serve in the military or have relatives who serve in the military.

Anti-«immigration» GOP lawmakers say the policy grants “de facto amnesty” to illegal immigrants without congressional approval.

“Backdoor amnesty will only attract more illegal immigrants looking for the same opportunity, and take more jobs from American workers,” Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif., who chairs the immigration subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, said in a written statement. “The president’s policy is shortsighted at any time, but clearly makes no sense during a time of economic hardship and high unemployment.”

“If these results play out nationwide, tens of thousands of illegal immigrants will benefit and tens of thousands of Americans will find it harder to get jobs,” House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said in a statement. “How can the Obama administration justify granting work authorization to illegal immigrants when so many American citizens don’t have jobs?”

Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Ill., a prominent advocate for immigrants, argued that deporting millions of people would have a damaging effect on the economy and tear families apart.

“Those who say ‘deport ‘em all’ miss the fact that in our deportation zeal, we are breaking up American families — families of U.S. citizens, military families — and sending parents, business owners, and working people into exile or farther underground,” he said in a statement. “It does not make us any better off and is taking a significant toll on communities across the country.”

While advocates for immigrants applaud the Obama administration’s steps, they say they aren’t enough.

The administration “can set enforcement priorities in a rational and logical way, which is part of what they’re doing with this program, but in order to get people real relief we have to reform the laws,” said Jeanne Butterfield, an immigration attorney. “Congress has not done its job. Congress has failed to act and that’s where the buck stops.”

In the absence of congressional action, which is an unlikely prospect in an election year and the current polarized environment, advocates have turned their efforts toward the Obama administration, urging the president to use his executive authority to change «immigration policy.

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