SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT (publ. 6/17/2012, page A2)
A story about a new Obama administration immigration policy incorrectly described the change as an executive order. The order is an administrative directive from the Department of Homeland Security. Executive orders are presidential orders that must be filed in the Federal Register, which this was not.
Bypassing Congress on one of the country’s most contentious issues, President Barack Obama said Friday he will stop deporting young illegal immigrants and grant tens of thousands of them work permits if they came to the United States as children.
The surprise announcement provided an election-year gift to immigrant communities frustrated by the fast pace of deportations, but it enraged many hard-liners who called it another example of backdoor amnesty.
“We are a better nation than one that expels innocent young kids,” Obama said at a White House news conference.
The executive order was Obama’s latest concession to the liberal base that helped elect him four years ago but has been frustrated by his slow response to issues such as same-sex marriage and immigration reform.
Obama last month announced his support for same-sex marriage, resetting fraying relations with his gay and lesbian supporters. But unlike that statement, the immigration order immediately affects tens of thousands of people.
The announcement came less than a day after a small group of undocumented students took over Obama’s campaign office in Oakland and spent the night, refusing to leave until he stopped deporting people like them. A similar protest in Denver last week inspired them.
“We are very excited. We are very happy,” protester Blanca Vazquez said shortly after waking up on a couch in the campaign office Friday morning to news the president was meeting many of her demands.
The new policy could benefit the four protesting college students and thousands of undocumented children and young adults in the Bay Area and as many as 1 million people nationwide, according to lawyers and research groups.
Under the policy first revealed Friday in a Department of Homeland Security order to immigration and customs agency chiefs, illegal immigrants can have a two-year stay of deportation and obtain work permits if they: are younger than 30 and came to the country before they turned 16; have lived in the United States for at least five years; graduated from high school, served in the military or are in school; and have not been convicted of a felony or serious misdemeanor.
The immunity resembles the Dream Act, a long-sought bill that has never been able to get through Congress, but differs in one important way: Its beneficiaries will not step onto the path toward legal residency or citizenship. They will be protected from deportation and can live, work and study freely for the next two years.
“They are in limbo, but they’re unequivocally in a better position now,” said Oakland immigration lawyer Jesse Lloyd, who leads the Northern California chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “It gives a lot of people a real window, a chance to work.”
Still, many remained wary because the promised relief is temporary, and a new president could reverse a previous one’s executive order.
“This is a good step forward but we want to make sure we have firmly made that step,” said Vazquez, who has been living in the United States since she was 6 months old. The 22-year-old San Francisco State student said she would not open the locked doors to the Obama for America office on Telegraph Avenue until lawyers confirm that her team could get a reprieve.
Lloyd said thousands of Bay Area immigrants will benefit. The Department of Homeland Security anticipates up to 800,000 people will qualify, and the Pew Hispanic Center estimates the new policy could relieve 1.4 million young people nationwide.
“This is an important and courageous act by President Obama, especially in an election year,” said UC Berkeley’s outgoing chancellor, Robert Birgeneau, who had publicly supported passage of the Dream Act.
As of Friday morning, lawyers said, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had begun screening the people they arrest to see if they qualify for the new relief. Some immigrants with pending deportations will get immediate relief, while others in the shadows will have to come forward to the government to get the work permits.
Undocumented immigrant activists across the Bay Area lauded the news Friday even as they remained uncertain about how it would affect them.
Incoming UC Berkeley student Alfredo Colonel, of Brentwood, said he was excited about the chance to be able to study without fearing deportation. But he had questions.
“What I’m skeptical about is what happens after the two years,” said Colonel, 24, who transfers to the university in the fall from Diablo Valley College. “Do I get to stay? Will I be processed for deportation? There are a lot of loose ends.”
Concerns about such uncertainty were echoed by Obama’s Republican opponent, presidential contender Mitt Romney, at a campaign stop in New Hampshire.
“I believe the status of young people who come here through no fault of their own is an important matter to be considered, and should be solved on a long-term basis so they know what their future would be in this country,” Romney said, according to CNN.
Romney pledged during his primary campaign he would veto the Dream Act if he were president but has since expressed support for similar legislation if it has more restrictions. He criticized Obama for the short-term executive order announced Friday, saying future presidents could reverse it.
Other Republicans accused Obama of pandering to his base and to the Latino electorate that will be critical in swing states.
Immigrant advocates celebrated the executive move they have been asking for since Republicans defeated the Dream Act in Congress almost two years ago.
“It is a refreshing and great temporary solution,” said lawyer Anoop Prasad of San Francisco’s Asian Law Caucus. “We first asked the White House to implement this policy back in 2010. They said no, we don’t have the legal authority to do this.”
Prasad believes the activists in the Bay Area and elsewhere made a difference in changing Obama’s mind.
Staff writer Kristin Bender contributed to this story. Contact Matt O’Brien at 510-293-2465.
Source: Department of Homeland Security
