September 2014 Immigration News At a Glance
Written by Kara DeDonato
The delay in President Obama’s executive action on immigration is the primary focus of this month’s News Digest. The September Digest also takes a look at some policy changes applicable to select migrant groups that were enacted in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform. Also included are a report on the financial upside to immigrant naturalization, a note on National Hispanic Heritage Month, and as always, an update on New York City’s immigration news.
Executive action delay
At the beginning of the month, the White House announced that President Obama would postpone his much-anticipated executive action on immigration until after the mid-term elections. This Washington Post article explains the key political motivations behind the delay: Democrats believe that any decisive action taken by the president might hurt them in the mid-term elections; they are particularly concerned about competitive Senate races in North Carolina, Louisiana, and Arkansas. According to the New York Times, the Obama administration also fears that if action is taken prior to the mid-term elections, politicization of the issue could hinder the prospect of comprehensive immigration reform: personal advisers to the president believe that “an announcement before the midterm elections in November would inject the controversial issue into a highly charged campaign environment that would encourage members of both parties to take more hard-line positions on the issue than they normally would.” In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press program, Obama repeated his pledge to take executive action on immigration reform after the mid-term elections, stressing that it is “the right thing for the American people,” and the “right thing for the American economy” (the full interview video and transcript of Obama’s are available here).
Obama’s decision to delay executive action has been met with dismay and an outcry of criticism among immigration advocates. “The president’s latest broken promise is another slap to the face of the Latino and immigrant community,” said Cristina Jiménez, the director of United We Dream. The New York Immigration Coalition issued a statement expressing disappointment in the president for placing “politics over immigration communities.” Janet Murguia, president of the country’s largest Latino organization, blamed Obama for “[giving] in to the fears of Democratic political operatives, [and] crushing the hopes of millions of hard-working people living under the constant threat of deportation and family separation.” Likewise, major US media outlets expressed their dismay at the president’s decision. Read this editorial of the New York Times, “Another Broken Promise on Immigration,” and the article entitled “Obama’s Long Immigration Betrayal” in The Atlantic.
A military route to citizenship
While the Obama administration has delayed executive action, the Pentagon has for the first time opened to undocumented immigrants an existing program, known as Military Accessions in the National Interest or MAVNI. The program was previously established to allow certain non-citizens with needed medical and foreign language skills to enlist in the US military and apply immediately for US citizenship. Under the new rules, young undocumented immigrants who have been granted a deportation deferral through DACA would be eligible to benefit from MAVNI. A USA Today article notes that the “Pentagon program is capped at 1,500 recruits per year,” and it is not yet known how many of these slots might be filled by undocumented DACA-status immigrants.
This New York Times article emphasizes that the Pentagon’s decision was separate from the Obama administration’s deliberations on immigration reform. The article also discusses the limitations of MAVNI as a gateway to citizenship. It notes that “the Pentagon program was created for temporary immigrants who peak one of about three dozen languages … but not Spanish, the language of the majority of undocumented young people.”
Status of refugees and asylum-seekers
Refugees approved for resettlement in the US are usually first designated as candidates by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Although the Obama administration continues to oppose the establishment of a separate refugee program for individuals fleeing the Syrian conflict, it has agreed to “greatly increase the number of Syrian refugees approved for permanent resettlement in the United States,” according to this article in the Washington Post.
Liberians will also benefit from a new development in the Obama administration’s immigration policy. President Obama extended the legal protection of deferred forced departure to Liberian immigrants living in the United States without a visa so that they will not be deported back to their Ebola-stricken native country for at least the next two years.
Despite these positive developments, it has become increasingly difficult to gain asylum in the United States. This Wall Street Journal article highlights that in the face of the Central American border surge, the percentage of individuals considered to meet the criteria for asylum of credible fear of persecution has decreased from 83 to just 63 percent of claimants in a mere six months. This sharp decline has been attributed to a toughening of the interview guidelines at the Asylum Division, a federal agency that has been overtaxed by the recent influx of Central American immigrants.
The economic upside to offering immigrants a path to citizenship
Visit the Americas Society/Council of the Americas’ website to learn more about how naturalized citizens contribute to the US economy: naturalized immigrants earn higher incomes; they are key to keeping federal programs like Social Security solvent; they are more likely to integrate into their local communities; they help create jobs for US citizens; and finally, an earned pathway to citizenship would have extremely positive ramifications for the US GDP.
Awareness of these and other factors has led the mayors of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago to launch “Cities for Citizenship,” and initiative that, according to The Wall Street Journal, will “help the three cities expand naturalization programs and other ventures dedicated to helping immigrants secure their financial footing through counseling, legal assistance and microloans.” A report from the Center for Popular Democracy and the National Partnership for New Americans has found that “the increase in earnings to immigrants, who otherwise wouldn’t have become citizens, is estimated to add between $1.8 and $4.1 billion over 10 years to New York’s economy; between $1.6 billion and $2.8 billion in Los Angeles; and between $1 billion and $1.6 billion in Chicago.”
National Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15 marked the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month. In honor of this occasion, the Pew Research Center put together 11 facts about Latin Americans in the United States. The US Hispanic population comprises 17 percent of the total population, making it the second largest racial or ethnic group.
El Diario NY, the city’s oldest and largest Spanish-language daily newspaper, is commemorating this event with news stories celebrating Latin Americans and their heritage.
Zooming in on New York City immigration news
The word is in on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Universal Pre-K program: Voices of NY reports that the program is enabling many mothers to take paid work outside of home for the first time in years. This will likely have a positive economic impact for immigrant and low-income families, for whom an added year of earned wages is particularly significant.
Another new program, the New York City Public Defender Program, is helping New York’s immigrant community fight deportations. NBC New York notes that the program, which is funded by $4.9 million approved by the New York City Council, is “the first of its kind” in the US. It assists low-income immigrant city residents fighting deportation who may otherwise not be able to arrange for legal representation. Public defenders from three organizations – the Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, and the Legal Aid Society – provide eligible immigrants with information on their rights and assistance throughout the legal process.
New York City has also established a reputation for dealing with Central American unaccompanied minors with a soft hand, compared with other areas of the country. In mid-September, the City announced that it would place representatives at the federal immigration court to reach out to the young immigrants and assist them with registering for school, health insurance, and accessing other available resources. A New York Times article quotes Mayor Bill de Blasio: “connecting these vulnerable children to educational, health and social services is vital to helping our families and communities gain stability.”
Additionally, the NY Daily News reports that the City’s new Municipal ID Program expanded during the month of September. City ID cards will now include free one-year memberships to cultural institutions such as the Bronx Zoo and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. ID cardholders may also be eligible for discounted movie and theatre tickets, as well as admission to special events held throughout the city. The expansion is expected to make the ID cards more popular amongst all resident groups.
