Mixed reactions and different benefits for immigrants under Pres. Obama’s new order
LAST week’s major announcement by President Obama to expand the deferred action program affects many, including 5 million undocumented immigrants shielded from deportation. However, while the impact is numerous, it also varies significantly by state—largely because it focuses on the parents of children who are citizens or legal permanent residents and have been in the US for at least 5 years.
“You get nervous, your legs start to tingle a little bit when there’s a cop behind you, when you’re doing nothing wrong by driving to work,” said Christian Avila, 24, a college student and immigrant who was brought to Phoenix, Arizona as a child.
“You’re not breaking any rules, you’re following the law. But unfortunately it’s where we live.”
If Avila didn’t live in Phoenix, but a few hundred miles to the west, he would have a driver’s license and qualify for in-state college tuition, among other opportunities for young people granted legal status through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Though Obama’s executive action certainly affects Avila and millions of qualifying undocumented immigrants by allowing them to remain the US, it does not mean their state will let them drive a car, get an affordable education, or even obtain health insurance.
States began to form a patchwork of new rules over Obama’s new reform, largely along political lines. Conservative (and mostly Republican) states like Nebraska and Arizona kept young immigrants from getting driver’s licenses, and Texas and Oklahoma threatened to file lawsuits to overturn the policy.
Meanwhile, other liberal places like California, Connecticut and Rhode Island were much more welcoming to immigrants, allowing them benefits and services already in place statewide.
Now, states must make new decisions on how to respond to the President’s action, which allows millions of eligible immigrants—such as the parents of US citizens—to defer their deportations and work legally in the US, as long as they pass background checks and pay taxes.
Among other changes includes the expansion of DACA and the termination of the Secure Communities program, under which local police had the authority to detain unauthorized immigrants arrested for minor offenses, such as traffic violations. California, Connecticut, and around 300 cities and counties already were limiting or refusing cooperation with federal “detainers,” to hold someone for possible deportation.
Monitoring local jails for deportable criminals “needs a fresh start and a new program,” the Department of Homeland Security said the day of Obama’s announcement.
In California, around 1.1 million unauthorized immigrants—around 50 percent overall—could potentially benefit from the executive order more than any other state, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Many of these immigrants are the parents of US citizens who have lived within its borders for years.
However, the new plan excludes undocumented immigrants in California from qualifying for federal health benefits. But Democrats, immigration groups and health care advocates are pushing for those immigrants to receive health care under the Medicaid program. The California Department of Health Care Services is deciding how to proceed.
The state will, however, allow immigrants who cannot prove their legal residence to still get a driver’s license starting in January.
A report by the Pew Charitable Trusts noted that states and localities can play an important part in implementing legalization programs and integrating newly legalized immigrants into their communities. In states with large illegal immigrant populations, such as California and Texas, that could mean over half can be exempted from deportation. However, the ascension of conservative Republicans in office after years of Democratic rule under President Obama may prompt heated, unknown changes in immigration reform.
A poll released by CNN indicates that generally, the country approves of the executive action. Of those surveyed, 26 percent said Obama went too far. About half said he got it right, and 22 percent said they think he should have gone further. Many said that he should not have expanded protection unilaterally, with an action that did not give Congress a say in the matter.
While the executive order will profoundly affect millions living in the US illegally, or those worried about loved ones who are, it also leaves out around 6.2 million undocumented immigrants who do not qualify.
(With reports from Associated Press, Washington Post, Huffington Post, and Newsday)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend November 29 – December 2, 2014 Sec. D pg.1)
