President Obama announced he would issue executive orders on the issue of immigration nearly two weeks ago. After struggling with an increasingly partisan and gridlocked Congress, hopes for comprehensive immigration reform all but vanished. In a bold move, Obama moved forward without legislative support, granting temporary reprieves for specific groups of immigrants in the United States.
The move has angered Republicans, such as Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who says he is considering suing the president to try and stop the changes from occurring.
What is changing
Obama’s executive order will grant legal reprieve to undocumented, immigrant parents of U.S. citizens.
Permanent residents, who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years, will also be reprieved.
These reprieves mean these immigrants will not be deported unless they commit a felony.
Many of these immigrants can now legally apply for work permits.
The 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is expanded. This program allows young immigrants, 30 years old or younger, who arrived as children to apply for a reprieve and live in the U.S. legally. Immigrants who are older than 30 now qualify under Obama’s executive order.
Visas are expanded for immigrants who invest in the U.S. and for immigrants who study science, technology, engineering and math.
Federal immigrant detention processes are modified.
Security at the border is strengthened.
Four million undocumented immigrants will be protected from ?deportation.
What will not change
Parents of immigrants protected under the DACA program are not granted reprieves.
Migrant farm workers will not receive visas.
The H-1B visa program, targeting highly skilled foreigners, is not ?expanded.
Newly protected immigrants are not protected under the Affordable Care Act.
What Obama hopes to accomplish
With these executive orders, the president said he hopes immigrants will finally come out and apply for citizenship through the correct legal channels. Many immigrants are terrified of being deported, which causes them to hide from the law.
Under the current system, immigrants may be so terrified of being deported that they may not seek education, medical care or other basic necessities for success in the U.S.
By lifting the veil, the president hopes immigrants will be given the protection needed to succeed in the U.S.
Effects in Indiana
An estimated 43,000 undocumented immigrants are currently residing in Indiana, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Under Obama’s executive order, many of these immigrants would be protected from deportation so long as they remain in accordance with Indiana law. This effectively means that neither Indiana police nor federal agents can deport these ?people.
What we want
The Editorial Board can sympathize with both supporters and opposition to Obama’s executive order.
Immigration is a tricky issue that forces us to choose a balance between law and human emotion and safety. However, we believe Pence is hilariously overreacting to Obama’s ?actions.
This action is not giving amnesty to millions of immigrants. It isn’t even offering them medical care or free ?education.
Rather, it gives immigrants the opportunity to apply for citizenship, something Republicans have been wanting for years now.
We would’ve liked to see the parents of illegal immigrants given reprieves, as well.
We’d also like highly skilled foreigners to be given more visas to study and work in the U.S. We digress, however, because this is a step in the right ?direction.
If the Republicans wanted immigration reform passed, they should’ve done so. Otherwise, they’re just ?grandstanding.
