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Obama Amnesty Plan to Exclude Parents of 'Dreamers'
Thursday, November 20, 2014 08:18 AM
By: Melissa Clyne
The parents of so called Dreamers -- undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors – will get no deportation reprieve under the sweeping executive amnesty plan President Barack Obama plans to announce tonight on prime time television, according to multiple sources.
During the long wait over Obama’s controversial decision to grant temporary protections to millions of illegal immigrants, many Hispanics brought here as minors had hoped the president would include their parents in his far-reaching order.
“It’s devastating,” Cesar Vargas, a vocal leader in the immigration reform movement, told Fox News Latino. “It’s our parents, the reason we fight. This shows that the president is not going far enough.”
In 2012, Vargas was among the millions of young people granted protection from deportation under Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – known as DACA—which suspended deportation for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. before age 16 and who met other criteria such as graduating from a U.S. high school and living in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment.
Though Vargas’ 70-year-old mother, who came here from Mexico 26 years ago, will not be deported because his sister became a naturalized citizen through marriage, Vargas had hoped other families like his own would benefit from Obama’s latest iteration of amnesty, according to Fox News Latino.
The parents of children who are American citizens and legal permanent residents, who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years, and have not committed any serious crimes, will be included in the order, according to the Times.
Some 5 million illegal immigrants will receive temporary protections under Obama’s executive amnesty plan, according to the Washington Post.
Four million illegal immigrants who have been in the country for at least five years will be eligible for temporary protection from deportation, the New York Times reports, while those with no criminal record would be permitted to work legally.
An additional one million “Dreamers” will be included in an expansion of the existing Dream Act program, though under the new order, the age limit will be eliminated.
None of the people granted legal protections will be eligible to receive Obamacare coverage or subsidies, according to The Daily Caller.
Farm workers will also not receive any special protection, another blow for many immigration advocates.
While the president “can exercise prosecutorial discretion to avoid breaking up the families of children entitled to be in the country and to steer enforcement agents toward deporting criminals and foreigners who pose national security threats,” senior administration officials, according to the Times, believe it would be challenging to defend including Dreamers’ parents since that program also came to fruition under an executive action.
“Since that program is based on executive action by Mr. Obama, the youths have deportation deferrals and work permits but no green cards or any other visa or formal immigration status, which only Congress can confer,” the officials told the Times. “Their parents’ claim for relief is weaker, the officials said.”
