NEW YORK DAILY NEWS (Opinion)
By Albor Ruiz
July 8, 2012
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/good-news-a-change-immigrants-new-york-article-1.1107202#ixzz203lR2v8q
In the desert of hostility many immigrants struggle through every day, the last three weeks have been a refreshing oasis of good news.
Last Sunday night, after nearly one year deprived of freedom by immigration authorities, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - the dreaded ICE -- released Humayun Kabir Chowdhury, a decent, hardworking taxi driver and a family man.
He is finally back in his in Jackson Heights home with his wife Dilruba and his 12-year-old son, Maheen.
The news of his release was received with joy and optimism by friends, families, and the immigrant community in general.
"This has touched everybody's hearts," said Jewel Chowdhury (no relation), a close family friend.
Born in Bangladesh, Chowdhury has a U.S.-born son, a clean record and 21 years of residence in the city. Nevertheless, he spent close to one year imprisoned awaiting deportation. During that time he was transferred to 10 different detention centers in six states.
This despite the fact that he could have been the poster boy for the new "prosecutorial discretion" program, which is supposed to prioritize the deportations of immigrants who have committed serious crimes. It is also supposed to apply prosecutorial discretion to those like Chowdhury, with strong ties to the U.S. and no criminal history.
For the Chowdhury family last year's nightmare is finally over, hopefully forever.
On June 15, another piece of good news took place.
That day President Obama announced his decision to stop deporting undocumented young immigrants and grant them temporary work permits as long as they fulfill certain conditions, similar to those required to qualify for the DREAM Act.
Up to 800,000 young immigrants, brought to this country as children by their parents, could benefit from the President's decision to give them a renewable two-year period of "deferred action," although not a road to citizenship.
As Osman Canales, a Long Island student leader, said at the time: "This is not the DREAM Act we have fought so hard for, but it is a tremendous achievement; thousands of young people will be able to live in peace. It is an important step in the right direction."
It certainly is.
But the good news streak didn't stop there. In June 28, the Supreme Court made even more positive news when they stunned the country by unexpectedly ruling in favor of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
As we mentioned in a previous column, according to the New York Immigration Coalition, under ACA, 6 million more Latinos nationwide would become insured, increasing the numbers of Latinos covered by 18.2%. The coalition added that Asians and other immigrant groups would increase their insurance coverage numbers by 10% under full ACA implementation.
"Noncitizen immigrant New Yorkers, who are three times more likely to be uninsured than citizens, will particularly benefit from the ACA's implementation, which will offer them access to affordable insurance coverage," said Chung-Wha Hong, the NYIC's executive director.
Even though the undocumented will not be covered, Theo Oshiro, deputy director of the activist group Make the Road New York, believes the Supreme Court decision was "monumental for the health of immigrants and all Americans."
Three unusually good weeks for immigrants in the U.S. Let's hope for many more to come.
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