Reaction to President Obama’s executive action on immigration

By Mason Harrison
Contributing Writer

President Barack Obama made the most sweeping changes to the country’s immigration system in a generation November 20, authorizing temporary holds on deportation proceeding for an estimated five million undocumented immigrants. The president outlined the policy changes in a televised speech and scolded congressional Republicans for failing to act on immigration reform over the course of 18 months. The new rules expand the number of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children who can remain in the country and allow the undocumented parents of U.S.-born children to stay.

The policy changes come after months of pressure from fellow Democrats and immigration reform advocates to fix what many have derided as a “broken” immigration system and to end the practice of deporting the parents of children born in the United States, in some cases leaving them alone. Obama stressed his administration’s record of increasing deportations and halting illegal border crossings, something that has caused his critics to label him the “deporter in chief,” but much of that criticism was laid to rest last week when the president underscored the need to deport “felons not families.”

Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the bicoastal Immigration Law Center, says the crux of the law boils down to three areas. “Every single president since Eisenhower has used executive authority to address immigration issues,” she says. The president’s executive order allows undocumented parents of U.S.-born children to remain in the country—after being in the United States for a period of five years—if the parent can supply proof of parenthood and pay a $465 fine. “The fine, says Hincapie, “is basically used to cover the cost of implementing the program. Some immigrants, however, can’t afford the cost, but we plan to assist them through microloans and other means of assistance.” The protections are good for three years, but can be renewed at the end of that period by applying.

The executive order also allows undocumented immigrants to leave the country, and return to the United States, while waiting to receive a green card. Prior to the president’s order, anyone leaving the country without required documentation could not reenter. “This will allow people to see their families,” says Hincapie. Lastly, immigration reform advocates expect the changes to include expanding the number of people who are covered under the government’s deferred action program, used to allow undocumented immigrants brought to the country as young children by their parents, to stave off deportation. Previously, an age cap applied to those covered under the program, going forward, Hincapie says, the cap will be removed and apply to immigrants of any age who will be shielded against deportation.

But she stresses the need to protect undocumented immigrants against scams. “It’s important to let people know that there is nothing anyone has to pay for at this time. There is no one who can get anyone to the front of the line to benefit from the executive order. If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.”

In New Orleans, the news was met with excitement and trepidation. “A number of our members will benefit from these policy changes,” says Jolene Elberth, of the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice. “But for some this will not change any decision about whether they are deported.” Elberth relayed the story of Gustavo Bonilla, an undocumented immigration facing deportation at year’s end. Elberth says his deportation order was placed on hold, but then rescinded without explanation. “People who’re not a tier one priority for deportation are being sent out of the country, says Elberth, referring to the three-tiered system for deporting undocumented immigrants based on level of criminality.

The Workers’ Center held a rally November 19 in front of the New Orleans office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, the administrative arm of the nation’s immigration system charged with extended relief to immigrations facing deportation. “We weren’t going to wait for the president,” Elberth says. “We submitted two applications to USCIS on behalf of two of our members facing deportation.” The application submissions are part of a national effort to actively pursue deportation stays. The group Not1More is coordinating efforts across the country to encourage undocumented immigrants to submit applications. “We are no longer waiting for…new channels for relief. We are ready and are applying for deferred action now,” according to a statement on the group’s website detailing their efforts.

But the policy changes, says Elberth, are not expected to alter the behavior of local enforcement agents. The New Orleans branch of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, are known nationally for tactics, seen by some, as heavy-handed. Raids, says Elberth, have taken place at apartment homes, grocery stores and Bible studies. “The racial profiling of ICE agents is in line with the overall difficulty with civil rights issues in the South,” she says. New Orleans became the site for a pilot program known as Criminal Alien Removal Initiative, allowing in raids on places frequented by Latinos. “One of our members who was thought to be African American was able to drive through an ICE checkpoint with no problem, but her coworker driving behind her was stopped because she appears to be Latina.”

Elberth says another member of Workers’ Center was harassed near Broad and Bienville streets by ICE agents conducting a raid. “He was riding his bike when the agents yelled at him saying, “Come here you f—— Mexican.’” The member, Edas Sevilla, is not of Mexican descent. Members of the group like Bonilla and Sevilla have different fates, with Bonilla likely to be covered under the changes, having a U.S.-born child, while Sevilla will likely not be covered under the president’s new executive order. Elberth says cities with larger immigrant populations operate with more liberal approaches to enforcement.

But New Orleans experienced a bit of immigration reform last summer when Orleans Parish sheriff Marlin Gusman ended voluntary holds on behalf of ICE of inmates believed to be undocumented. Gusman also suspended investigation of inmates’ immigration statuses. The new policies were the result of a lawsuit filed by two inmates held at the jail for months who were believed to be in the country illegally. The far-reaching changes received national attention and are a first for a southern city. The challenges laid out by the president, however, are expected to take several months to implement.

This article originally published in the December 1, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.