Los Angeles Times (California)
By Brian Bennett and Joseph Tanfani
December 30, 2014
President
Obama's new set of immigration policies could affect as many as 5
million people, including the possibility of a three-year reprieve from
the threat of deportation for parents of
children with legal status.
The
new year will see those policies coming into effect, potentially
creating dramatic changes for those who are in the U.S. illegally. Also
ahead in 2015 are important shifts in how agents
will enforce immigration laws to focus more on deporting people with
lengthy or violent criminal records and less on people whose only crimes
are immigration offenses.
The
new approach will end the dragnet system that enlisted police in
blowing the whistle on immigrants. These policies won't apply to most of
the 11.2 million living in the country illegally.
And don't expect this to roll out without a fight. Republicans in Congress already have vowed to try to undo the new policies.
Obama hopes to work with Republicans, but he has his veto pen ready
"This
is a serious breach of our Constitution. It's a serious threat to our
system of government," House Speaker John A. Boehner said as the plan
was unveiled. But practically speaking, there
is little they can do.
Republican
governors in states affected by the new deportation policies have
called out the lawyers. At least 24 states have filed suit to block the
plan, and that case is expected to play
out in the courts throughout 2015.
Here's a look at the plan and what we can expect:
Whom is the new plan designed to help?
Mostly
immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally and who have children who are
citizens (nearly all children born in the U.S. are automatically
citizens) or permanent legal residents. To be
eligible, people have to have been living in the U.S. since Jan. 1,
2010, and have no record of serious crimes that would make them a
priority for removal.
A
White House legal memo said this "would serve an important humanitarian
interest in keeping parents together with children who are lawfully
present in the United States." Approved applicants
will get permission to stay for three years. As many as 4.1 million
people could fit the criteria, the administration estimates. The
application will cost $465.
What about people who came to the U.S. as children?
The
program expands the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA,
program begun in 2012 that has protected 587,000 young people from
removal. The new rules do away with an age limit
and open the program to anyone here since 2010, instead of the old
cutoff of 2007. An estimated 300,000 more young men and women would be
eligible.
Does this mean these people will become legal residents?
No.
As laid out by Obama and Jeh Johnson, his Homeland Security secretary,
the administration is using its discretion to not target these people.
Absent other changes, such as a law passed
by Congress, the people could again go into illegal status after their
temporary reprieves expire.
Where are most of the people from, and where do they live now?
About
two-thirds are from Mexico, the source of most immigrants to the U.S.
The biggest share of the eligible parents, more than 1.1 million, lives
in California, with the next biggest populations
in Texas and Illinois.
What about the more than 6 million people who don't qualify?
Some
arrived in the U.S. too recently to qualify, but most are excluded
because they didn't have children born here. According to the Pew
Research Center, which studies immigration, about
85% of people who live in the U.S. without authorization have been here
for five years or more. That's because immigration has been down in
recent years, said Jeff Passel, Pew's senior demographer. The biggest
share of the people who've lived here long enough
but don't qualify is single men, he said. Others are married without
children. Some have children who were born elsewhere — for instance,
parents of kids born in Mexico and brought to the U.S. as toddlers
aren't eligible.
Is the new program open to parents of children who've already received a reprieve under DACA?
No.
Administration lawyers decided that was a bridge too far and without
legal basis, since there would be no family member with legal status in
the U.S. — only children with a temporary relief
order. That decision disappointed some immigration activists, who point
out that those families could be split up.
If
someone met these qualifications — in the U.S. for five years, with
American-born children — but got deported, could they now apply to get
back in?
No.
Those cases are considered closed by immigration officials. As many as
250,000 to 300,000 people could fit that category, according to Randy
Capps, director of research for the nonprofit
Migration Policy Institute. However, the new policy says that people
who are subject to deportation actions — even those who have received
final removal orders but are still in the U.S. — can apply to stay.
How will enforcement change under the new rules?
The
administration says its top priority will be to go after border
crossers and people considered dangerous, such as convicted felons and
gang members. The second priority is people convicted
of three misdemeanor crimes, or who have significant offenses such as
domestic violence or drug trafficking.
At
the bottom of the list are people who have committed no crimes other
than illegally entering the country, particularly if they've been in the
U.S. since Jan. 1, 2014. The administration
is doing away with the much-derided Secure Communities program, which
enlisted police to hold unauthorized people on detainers for immigration
agents. The government will still collect fingerprint data, though.
Who else could benefit from the changes?
Also
in the works are changes to rules for granting visas for science and
technology students, and to streamline the clunky and inflexible rules
on work visas, to make it easier for people
to change jobs without jeopardizing their immigration status.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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