America needs immigration reform, there’s no doubt about that — our country has been talking about it for years. The problem is that what should be a relatively bipartisan issue ended up yet another that hasn’t been resolved. Congress has failed to pass any bills for comprehensive immigration reform despite the calls for it from so many.
“I have no doubt that there will be some Republicans who are angered or frustrated by any executive action that I may take. Those are folks I just have to say who are also deeply opposed to immigration reform in any form and blocked the House from being able to pass a bipartisan bill.” – Obama
President Obama’s plan for getting reform (and fast) is rather bold. He means to act unilaterally taking an executive action that would grant up millions deferred action. Many Republicans have criticized this, calling it an abuse of power, but the lack of action in Congress has not left him much of a choice. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced that he was willing to fight Obama’s executive action “tooth and nail”, clearly showing his willingness to set aside party differences and cooperate with our President. Clearly.
Who would be included in this?
There are 11.7 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States, but only some of them, of course, would qualify for deferred action. According to the Migration Policy Institute, up to 1.9 million could be included in the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), 3.8 million are either the parents or the spouse of a United States citizen.
It is not known for sure who will be included, but there are some groups that are widely acknowledged as the highest priority.
Of these groups are qualifying children and young adults who are not yet a part of DACA, the parents of children who are citizens or have a green card, and those with a spouse who is a citizen or has a green card.
What is DACA?
DACA is a program that grants children and young adults meeting a certain set of requirements two years of deferred action to temporarily protect them from deportation. These young people are accepted on a case-by-case basis, the guidelines for which can be found here.
The creation of DACA came as a result of the failure of the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act to pass Congress. Both would target similar groups of unauthorized immigrants, but the DREAM Act would have given immigrants a path to citizenship whereas DACA is purely temporary and does not do much more than granting two years of deferred action and the ability to apply for work authorization.
Reports have shown that it is likely that immigration relief will be in the form of an expansion to DACA, giving deferred action to hundreds of thousands of more immigrants.
What else will be included in Obama’s executive action?
While immigration relief is definitely the most controversial aspect, the action will also include strengthening border security, reforming the enforcement of immigration and expanding legal immigration. What the specifics are have not been delineated, but what we do know is that Obama is expected to take action very soon, likely by the end of the year.
The Wrap
In a nutshell, Obama wants to finally get to reforming immigration after Congress has repeatedly failed to get anything done. Many Republicans, however, are angry over the power that Obama is exercising along with the fact that they do not support the possibility of millions of immigrants being protected from deportation. I digress. By granting immigrants deferred action, we give them an opportunity to work without the constant fear of being sent back over the border in addition to refraining from separating families.
We Are Our Change 