San Antonio-Express: The government's decision Wednesday not to kick out of the country former Jefferson High School valedictorian and DREAM Act poster child Benita Veliz is a rare instance of new deportation guidelines being implemented in San Antonio.
Immigration authorities agreed to close proceedings against Veliz, a 26-year-old graduate of St. Mary's University, five months after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton released a memo that sets out factors that prosecutors should take into account when deciding who will be deported.
The decision to drop the case against Veliz, who was put into deportation proceedings in January 2009 after being pulled over by a Helotes police officer and arrested for not having a license, was rare, immigration attorneys said.
But her troubles are far from over. Veliz still can't get a work permit — to apply for one, she'd have to leave the country and face a 10-year ban before she could come back — and the government can at any time pick up the deportation proceedings right where they left off. Still, she was jubilant after her court hearing Wednesday morning.
“This is my home, this is the only place I've known,” said Veliz, who came to the U.S. on a visa when she was 8. “I'm ready to work in the United States. I'm ready to give back to my community.”
Her attorney, Nancy Shivers, said the government backed off on Veliz's case in part because she's eligible for the DREAM Act, proposed legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for some students, high school graduates and members of the military without serious criminal history. That Veliz's case has received a great degree of media attention didn't hurt, Shivers said.
Veliz became an important figure in the movement to pass the DREAM Act — short for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act — in 2009 when a column ran in the New York Times with the headline “Don't Deport Benita Veliz.” She's since traveled to speak about the movement and was involved in efforts to sway Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to vote for the act, which died in the Senate last year.
Despite the good news for Veliz, immigration attorneys said they've seen little change in ICE policy since Morton released the memo laying out criteria prosecutors should take into account.
Those criteria include how long immigrants have been in the country, how old they were when they entered the country, whether they're pursing education and whether they or an immediate relative served in the U.S. military. Shivers said it's unusual in San Antonio for immigration authorities to exercise prosecutorial discretion, a power they've had for years, in such cases.
ICE officials have defended the use of prosecutorial discretion, saying they have limited resources and need to focus on deporting those with serious criminal histories. But conservatives and unions representing Homeland Security Department employees have blasted the policy, saying it amounts to backdoor amnesty and prevents agents and prosecutors from enforcing the law.
But the fact of the matter is that the new policy has had little or no effect, said San Antonio immigration attorney Simon Azar-Farr.
“The effect has been, I dare say, almost negative,” Azar-Farr said. “There appears to be a rebellion within the agency against the president's policy memo. And San Antonio, to my knowledge, appears not to be an exception. And so nationwide, the people responsible for executing that policy appear to be ignoring it.”
That Veliz, whose highly publicized case seemed to fit Morton's guidelines to a T, is no longer in deportation proceedings doesn't necessarily bode well for others in a similar position, he said.
“I do not think you can view it as a harbinger that the agency is going to apply this across the board, because there are hundreds of extremely, and I mean extremely, sympathetic cases in the pipeline, and they are receiving the boot,” Azar-Farr said.
There are an estimated 2.2 million people who would benefit from the DREAM Act, Veliz said, people whom the U.S. has invested in educating and who want to contribute to the country where they grew up.
“Really it's squandered potential to leave these young people without legal status,” she said. “The DREAM Act is the only solution that would legitimately fix the problem.”
Today, Veliz volunteers at her church and continues her efforts to get the act passed.
“When this started three years ago, I thought that was it. I'd lost hope,” Veliz said. “I'm definitely excited, I'm definitely happy to still be here.”
Immigration authorities agreed to close proceedings against Veliz, a 26-year-old graduate of St. Mary's University, five months after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton released a memo that sets out factors that prosecutors should take into account when deciding who will be deported.
The decision to drop the case against Veliz, who was put into deportation proceedings in January 2009 after being pulled over by a Helotes police officer and arrested for not having a license, was rare, immigration attorneys said.
But her troubles are far from over. Veliz still can't get a work permit — to apply for one, she'd have to leave the country and face a 10-year ban before she could come back — and the government can at any time pick up the deportation proceedings right where they left off. Still, she was jubilant after her court hearing Wednesday morning.
“This is my home, this is the only place I've known,” said Veliz, who came to the U.S. on a visa when she was 8. “I'm ready to work in the United States. I'm ready to give back to my community.”
Her attorney, Nancy Shivers, said the government backed off on Veliz's case in part because she's eligible for the DREAM Act, proposed legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for some students, high school graduates and members of the military without serious criminal history. That Veliz's case has received a great degree of media attention didn't hurt, Shivers said.
Veliz became an important figure in the movement to pass the DREAM Act — short for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act — in 2009 when a column ran in the New York Times with the headline “Don't Deport Benita Veliz.” She's since traveled to speak about the movement and was involved in efforts to sway Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to vote for the act, which died in the Senate last year.
Despite the good news for Veliz, immigration attorneys said they've seen little change in ICE policy since Morton released the memo laying out criteria prosecutors should take into account.
Those criteria include how long immigrants have been in the country, how old they were when they entered the country, whether they're pursing education and whether they or an immediate relative served in the U.S. military. Shivers said it's unusual in San Antonio for immigration authorities to exercise prosecutorial discretion, a power they've had for years, in such cases.
ICE officials have defended the use of prosecutorial discretion, saying they have limited resources and need to focus on deporting those with serious criminal histories. But conservatives and unions representing Homeland Security Department employees have blasted the policy, saying it amounts to backdoor amnesty and prevents agents and prosecutors from enforcing the law.
But the fact of the matter is that the new policy has had little or no effect, said San Antonio immigration attorney Simon Azar-Farr.
“The effect has been, I dare say, almost negative,” Azar-Farr said. “There appears to be a rebellion within the agency against the president's policy memo. And San Antonio, to my knowledge, appears not to be an exception. And so nationwide, the people responsible for executing that policy appear to be ignoring it.”
That Veliz, whose highly publicized case seemed to fit Morton's guidelines to a T, is no longer in deportation proceedings doesn't necessarily bode well for others in a similar position, he said.
“I do not think you can view it as a harbinger that the agency is going to apply this across the board, because there are hundreds of extremely, and I mean extremely, sympathetic cases in the pipeline, and they are receiving the boot,” Azar-Farr said.
There are an estimated 2.2 million people who would benefit from the DREAM Act, Veliz said, people whom the U.S. has invested in educating and who want to contribute to the country where they grew up.
“Really it's squandered potential to leave these young people without legal status,” she said. “The DREAM Act is the only solution that would legitimately fix the problem.”
Today, Veliz volunteers at her church and continues her efforts to get the act passed.
“When this started three years ago, I thought that was it. I'd lost hope,” Veliz said. “I'm definitely excited, I'm definitely happy to still be here.”
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