New York Times (Opinion)
By Lawrence Downes
May 19, 2015
Today, May 19, should have been the day that the United States took a step forward on immigration reform. Not an enormous step in the global scheme of things, but a huge one for the people it would have helped.
Because of Congress’s continued inability to pass an immigration bill, Mr. Obama announced six months ago that he was expanding his earlier Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, giving work permits to qualified young people brought here illegally as children. He also announced a new program called DAPA, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents. These plans were supposed to take effect today.
They are not the comprehensive reform that the country needs. They don’t legalize anybody. They offer no citizenship path, no green cards and no pardon for the unauthorized. But they do offer a way into the legal workforce, and some relief from the dread — of deportation and separation — that clouds the lives of millions of immigrant families.
Mr. Obama was offering hope, a measure of sanity, and even a boost to the economy. But the immigration debate being what it is, and with Obama-hate as strong as ever, a mob of politically motivated governors and attorneys general in 26 states sued to block DAPA and the expanded DACA. A federal district judge in Texas granted their wish, and now the programs are in limbo, awaiting a decision in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and possibly a trip to the Supreme Court.
Limbo? Quicksand is more like it. Immigrant dreams, too long deferred, are drying up. Anger and frustration at unmet promises are mounting. Deportations continue. So do family instability and anxiety.
The question looms: What becomes of these actions when Mr. Obama leaves office, if the legal battle drags on?
Many immigrants are looking hopefully to Hillary Clinton, but they should be careful. She has promised to defend Mr. Obama’s programs and even go beyond them, but how, she isn’t saying. The Republican candidates are a useless mass, as expected. They cannot support anything Mr. Obama has ever done — party orthodoxy forbids it. With primaries looming, they can’t support any other broad, generous, sensible or humane immigration reforms, like a citizenship path for the unauthorized. With one fearful eye on Latino voters, they are sounding cagey and confused, but generally defaulting to the old Mitt Romney position, wishing that millions of immigrants would all just go away.
They’re not going away. Today they are holding demonstrations, voter registrations, rallies and town-hall meetings. They are meeting in Washington, New York, Phoenix, Tucson, San Jose, Los Angeles, Riverside, Fresno, Modesto, Denver, Chicago, Orlando, Lansing, Charlotte, Raleigh, Las Vegas, Reno, Columbus, Houston, Austin, Seattle, Madison.
It’s a day to defend DACA and DAPA, to prepare potentially eligible people to apply for the programs, and to build pressure for action.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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