IN its latest effort yet to help qualified undocumented immigrants in America, which include many kababayans, the Obama administration asked the US Court of Appeals on Monday, May 18 to set aside a court order that blocks the implementation of the President’s executive order that aims to provide relief to about four million people unlawfully living and working in America.
The Obama administration argues that the President has exclusive authority to enforce immigration measures as he sees fit.
Under Obama’s executive measures, these undocumented parents of US citizens or green card holders could apply for temporary deportation relief and work authorization.
Moreover, the Obama administration also issued its final report on Monday, which stated that state and local police should not be involved in immigration enforcement, which includes detention, notification and transfer requests.
As Balitang America reported, the Obama administration explained that undocumented immigrants often fear approaching police officers when they become victims of or witnesses to crimes.
The Obama administration recommended in its report that the US Justice Department should not include immigration information in the FBI’s national crime information database.
The Obama administration reportedly also plans to bar federal agencies from providing certain military equipment to local police officers. As Balitang America reported, the Obama Administration explains that “these militarized gear can sometimes give people the feeling like there’s an occupying force, as opposed to a force that is part of the community that is protecting them and serving them”.
Fox News reported that the waitlist for people trying to come to the United States as legal immigrants now stands at 4.4 million. This is 100,000 more than last year.
As Balitang America reported, Fox News says it asked the United States Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) why it provided preferential status to undocumented immigrant applications instead of those who are trying to come here legally and have been waiting in line for up to 15 years.
Fox said the response of the immigration spokesman was that they are working on it.
How should this problem of backlog in the processing of immigration applications be solved?
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos.
