With Immigration Stalled In Congress, Advocates Look To Obama To Further Reduce Deportations

Syria won't make GOP's immigration problem go "poof" and disappear

abogado de inmigracion illegally without any action by Congress. The memo listed a number of pros arguing for that approach. A bold administrative program would transform the political landscape by using administrative measures to sidestep the current state of congressional gridlock and inertia, it said. However, it noted even more cons. Opponents of the registration program will characterize it as amnesty, and the Homeland Security secretary would face criticism that she is abdicating her charge to enforce the immigration laws. An administration official, who was not authorized to discuss the memo publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was not directed by the White House and has no bearing on the current immigration debate. Thats not stopping immigrant advocates from gaming out scenarios the administration could pursue, such as granting legal status to targeted groups of immigrants, perhaps to people who have been in the country for a long time or whose children are U.S. citizens. Its very clear that from advocates perspective, if legislation fails, we definitely will need to start pressuring the administration to act, said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Immigrants lacking papers work legally — as their own bosses

But organizers who help immigrants said the idea has taken on new life in recent years, often among tech-savvy young people who came into the country illegally or overstayed visas. Chavarria, who was 7 when she crossed into Arizona from Mexico with her mother, said her parents told her from a young age that anything was possible in her newly adopted country. "We're taught as young kids that this is the land of opportunity," she said. "They told me, 'You could be anything you want to be if you work hard, you're a good person, obey your parents and go to school.'" But when she graduated from high school in Phoenix, Chavarria discovered that her lack of legal status was a roadblock to becoming a graphic designer. Although she won a scholarship, she said, she could afford to take only two classes at a time at Scottsdale Community College because she wasn't willing to risk working with fraudulent documents to pay for school. Congress delivered another blow to Chavarria in 2010 when it failed to pass the Dream Act , which would provide a path to legalization for young adults who were brought into the country illegally as children. The next year, after she became more involved with the Dream Act Coalition, she discovered a way she could sell her designs to others without fear of repercussions. How is this possible? Though the issue is complex, the answer boils down to how labor law defines employees, said Muzaffar Chishti, an expert on the intersection of labor and immigration law at the Migration Policy Institute. For example, employees often have set hours and use equipment provided by the employer. Independent contractors make their own hours, get paid per project by submitting invoices and use their own tools. Also, someone who hires an independent contractor isn't obligated by immigration law to verify that person's legal status.
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Sandy K. Baruah: Immigration reform would help Detroit turn things around

That inadequate limit has been in place for more than 20 years, even though immigrant workers with degrees or special training in STEM and computer science are a prime source of talent for U.S. companies. This is why the Detroit Regional Chamber is supporting an immigration reform bill now in the U.S. House known as the SKILLS Visa Act. Until Americas schools start producing more tech-savvy graduates, Michigan wont get highly skilled immigrants without an expanded supply of skilled-worker visas, and that need is echoed in tech centers across the country. The expansion of visas proposed in the SKILLS Visa Act would meet that need. The bill also would encourage creation of a national STEM and computer science education fund. The money, financed through employer application fees for visas and green card residency permits, would be available to every state to improve teaching in tech-related subjects in K-12, junior colleges and universities. Passing the SKILLS Visa Act would be an investment in Michigan and Detroits future, and position our country to regain its rapidly eroding talent advantage.
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The Senate passed an immigration measure this year, but differences remain among House members on matters such as border security and the status of 12 million people whove already entered the country illegally. Reagan said its time to hammer out these differences. These are topics that have a lot of passions and politics on all sides, he said. We need people not to ignore that but to work through it and find solutions. And when immigration reform happens, or even if it doesnt, lots of people in St. Louis are trying to find ways to draw more immigrants here. Thats the point of the St. Louis Mosaic Project, which launched in earnest in June with backing from local economic development groups and big companies. It aims to make St. Louis the nations fastest-growing metro area for immigration.
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A dream derailed for former poster child for immigration reform

Gomez doesn't speak Portuguese. He misses the conveniences of Miami and New York City, and being able to watch the Green Bay Packers and New York Yankees on TV. He tries not to think about the United States, the country he calls home. Even visiting would be a challenge. Noncitizens who overstay their visas can be barred from returning for a decade. Still, Gomez doesn't regret the decision to leave. "If I didn't make this move, I'd still be in New York not working," he said. "I had no path in the United States." If there is a silver lining, it came last week in the form of a visit from his parents. It was the first time he had seen them since 2007. The family spent Sunday afternoon in a public park, wandering the grounds and making up for lost time.
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Advocates turn to Obama for action on immigration

Ramos message above is that if Republicans try to use Syria as an excuse for inaction, Latinos will see right through that, too. The debate in Washington right now is heavily focused on whether Obamas handling of Syria in particular, Congress apparent rejection of his request for authorization has badly weakened his ability to realize the rest of his agenda. Immigration reform, of course, is a major item on that agenda. But when it comes to immigration as with this falls fiscal fights that question is largely irrelevant. Obamas standing or strength with regard to Congress wont play any significant role in determining whether immigration reform happens. That, too, is a question that turns only on whether Republicans resolve their differences over it.
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Study links immigration, job growth

"I think that's actually what Obama wants to do. I think he wants Congress not to pass something so he can do it on his own and he can take credit for it," Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said in an interview. "He needs to be very careful, though, because he continues to flout the law, and he continues to do things that are beyond his authority. And at some point, Congress is going to have enough." The administration acted on its own a year ago to change policy and suspend deportations of some immigrants brought illegally into the country as children. More than 450,000 of them have benefited so far. White House officials refuse to publicly entertain any discussion of taking further steps. "The only way to bring 11 million undocumented individuals out of the shadow economy is for Congress to pass common-sense reform with an earned path to citizenship.
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Immigration May Turn Other Red States Blue

Thats what Republican members of Congress concerned about their own partys future probably should remember as they decide whether or not to allow a House floor vote on the immigration bill passed by the Senate in June. For California was once a pretty red state in presidential politics. Before 1994, Republicans carried this state in nine of 12 post-World War II national elections. But the GOP has not won here since, and the only top-of-ticket statewide victories by a Republican in that time were those of Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose movie stardom and centrist politics won him many non-GOP votes. No one has the slightest doubt what caused this shift: the 1994 Proposition 187 and then-Gov. Pete Wilsons vocal support for it. Within four years of that anti-illegal immigrant measures passage, more than 2.5 million California Latinos applied for citizenship and registered to vote, the vast majority as Democrats.
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