In Pursuit of the Dream

AKRON BEACON JOURNAL (Editorial)

August 16, 2012

http://www.ohio.com/editorial/editorials/in-pursuit-of-the-dream-1.327590

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals does not come close to the intent of the DREAM Act, the oft-debated legislation to grant legal residency, if certain conditions are met, to noncitizens brought illegally into the country as children. All the same, President Obama’s initiative to defer deportation of illegal young immigrants presents an opportunity to cut through the impasse on immigration reform.

The federal program, created by executive order in June, offers a reprieve from deportation for two years to illegal residents younger than 31 years. They have to prove they were brought into the country before they were 16 years old, have lived here at least five years and pass a background check. The tens of thousands of undocumented residents who turned out in cities across the country on Wednesday, the first day applications for deferment were available, demonstrates yet again the need for immigration reforms that offer realistic options to absorb young people who are Americans in everything but documentation, part of the fabric of their communities and yet forced to live on the sidelines.

The new program is a step forward from the legislative stalemate in Congress and a necessary move, to be sure. For those whose applications are approved, the program will relieve temporarily the threat of deportation. It also will offer, where needed, a permit to work. But though a deferment can be renewed, the program does not define a path to citizenship, which is the responsibility of Congress. As President Obama admitted in issuing the executive order, this is a stopgap measure.

On Wednesday, Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona issued an order blocking access to public benefits and driver’s licenses to young immigrants who win deferment. Thus, as long as Washington neglects the obligation to act, it encourages such attempts to thwart even reasonable efforts to absorb into the mainstream millions of residents whom the nation cannot possibly deport or imprison.