"Getting a Reprieve: Young Illegal Immigrants

[TBoneTX 45,324]

Getting a reprieve: Young illegal immigrants see first signs of 0bama's deferred action program

By Liz Goodwin, Yahoo! News National Affairs Reporter

Yahoo! News | The Lookout

A month ago, Gabriela Tepe was almost out of hope. An immigration appeals court told the 21-year-old Oklahoma State University student that she and her 20-year-old brother, Angel, would need to leave the country by July 3 or face deportation. The siblings, who have lived in Oklahoma City since they were four and two years old, would be celebrating the fourth of July in Guatemala, a country they don't even remember.

"My parents never talked about [Guatemala,]" Gabriela Tepe told Yahoo News. She didn't find out she wasn't a U.S. citizen until she was in the fifth grade, and had to do a school project that asked where she was born.

Tepe refused to let herself believe that she would actually have to leave her family, friends and country after a years-long legal battle to stay. Deeply religious, she was holding out for a miracle. "It really scares us to go back," she said. "We completely Americanized ourselves over here."

On June 15, Tepe saw on the news that President Barack Obama had announced that his administration would no longer deport illegal immigrants under the age of 30 who had been brought to the country as children, graduated from high school and committed no serious crimes. "They are Americans in their hearts, in their minds, in every single way but one--on paper," Obama said then, adding that this class of immigrants had no control over their guardians' decision to bring them to the country illegally.

Mitt Romney has criticized Obama's big, election-year announcement, dubbed the deferred action plan, as just a political ploy. Others who favor stricter immigration enforcement say it sends a message that it's acceptable to come to the country without documentation. But for the estimated 1 million young illegal immigrants who, like Gabriela and Angel, may qualify for the new temporary legal status, the program represents their best shot at a normal life.

When Tepe heard the news, she felt flooded with relief. Her parents, who were granted green cards a few years earlier, and her two younger siblings, both American-born and thus citizens, were finally able to relax.

"It's just a big miracle," she said. "God does really do big things when you least expect it. It was down to the wire."

Doug Stump, Tepe's lawyer, said after Obama's announcement he quickly sent Angel and Gabriela's information to immigration officials in Washington, and was informed just two days before the Tepes were required to leave that their petition would be granted. The officials also told Stump that his clients were the first in Oklahoma to qualify for Obama's deferred action program for young people.

"Never did it cross my mind that we would be among the first ones to get it and that it could happen so quickly," Tepe said.

On August 15, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is scheduled to begin allowing young illegal immigrants to actively apply for legal status and a work permit under the new program. The status would last for two years, and be renewable, but applicants will have to prove they entered the country as children, graduated high school and haven't committed crimes.

A lot is still unknown about what the process of applying for legal status for these young people will be like, including how much it will cost to apply, what kind of documents applicants will have to provide, or even for how long the program will be offered. Romney hasn't specifically addressed what he would do to the program if he were elected in November, leaving its fate unclear.

But Stump, who is also the incoming president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, thinks people who want to apply should do so as early as possible, in case backlogs slow the process. He calculates that the USCIS application workload could increase by 25 percent due to the change. (About 4.5 million immigration-related applications were filed with the agency last year, and experts estimate that between 800,000 to 1.4 million people are eligible to apply for this new status.)

The Tepes were able to qualify early because, like nearly 300,000 other immigrants, their immigration cases were already pending in court. The Department of Homeland Security didn't respond to questions from Yahoo News about how many people have been granted deferred action under the program since its announcement in June.

Tepe, meanwhile, has been enjoying her deportation reprieve. She's written a letter to her fellow churchgoers, thanking them for their support and for writing letters to Immigration and Customs Enforcement on her behalf. And she's been working seven days a week as a waitress to help pay for her college courses next year. Her dream: to attend medical school and become a pediatrician. She hopes to practice stateside.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/getting-reprieve-young-illegal-immigrants-see-first-signs-130915840.html

1. Actions have consequences. The parents are getting away with having broken the law.

2. So many of us got hosed at the consulate for SUSPECTED illegality. Conversely, these people ARE illegal, and they're getting a free ride.

3. How many legitimate I-129F & I-130 petitions (and AOS, and ROC, and N-400) will be shoved to the back burner for untold months while these illegals move to the front of the line?

4. Let's see how much money Ms. Illegal Guatemalteca makes as a pediatrician under 0bamacare.

Comments?

[rocks 494]

1. Actions have consequences. The parents are getting away with having broken the law.

2. So many of us got hosed at the consulate for SUSPECTED illegality. Conversely, these people ARE illegal, and they're getting a free ride.

3. How many legitimate I-129F & I-130 petitions (and AOS, and ROC, and N-400) will be shoved to the back burner for untold months while these illegals move to the front of the line?

4. Let's see how much money Ms. Illegal Guatemalteca makes as a pediatrician under 0bamacare.

Comments?

I disagree with you. Splitting up families is a terrible thing, they didn't choose to be brought here. Her parents have GCs, you might not like it but the government has decided they can stay. Concentrate your anger on something else.

[^_^ 5,021]

Yes, there's a property tax thread with a lot of talk of the exorbitant rates in Texas. That may be a more suitable venue for your outrage, Tbone.

[rocks 494]

Yes, there's a property tax thread with a lot of talk of the exorbitant rates in Texas. That may be a more suitable venue for your outrage, Tbone.

Or get upset about Medicaid and Texas.

[^_^ 5,021]

Or get upset about Medicaid and Texas.

Know your audience. Taxes cause outrage.

[JohnR! 5,495]

1344009290[/url]' post='5581693']

1. Actions have consequences. The parents are getting away with having broken the law.

2. So many of us got hosed at the consulate for SUSPECTED illegality. Conversely, these people ARE illegal, and they're getting a free ride.

3. How many legitimate I-129F & I-130 petitions (and AOS, and ROC, and N-400) will be shoved to the back burner for untold months while these illegals move to the front of the line?

4. Let's see how much money Ms. Illegal Guatemalteca makes as a pediatrician under 0bamacare.

Comments?

1. Our immigration system has been broken for a long time.

2. See 1 above.

3. There is no telling if your question is even pertinent. You're speculating.

4.. Get a court order.

Edited August 3, 2012 by Gegel

[Anh map 2,098]

At some point Congress has to draw a firm line and say if a person is here on XX date then they can pursue a path to residency (with all the appropriate background checks, etc.). And at that point we have to figuratively "slam the door" and enforce the immigration laws and borders in all cases. That will no doubt result in some separated families, but without actually enforcing whatever laws are on the books, the whole debate and hand wringing is just futile.

[JohnR! 5,495]

1344010444[/url]' post='5581762']

At some point Congress has to draw a firm line and say if a person is here on XX date then they can pursue a path to residency (with all the appropriate background checks, etc.). And at that point we have to figuratively "slam the door" and enforce the immigration laws and borders in all cases. That will no doubt result in some separated families, but without actually enforcing whatever laws are on the books, the whole debate and hand wringing is just futile.

They need to secure the border and make e-verify mandatory. Until we can control and prevent, it would be like replacing the carpet before fixing the water leak first.

Edited August 3, 2012 by Gegel

[rocks 494]

Know your audience. Taxes cause outrage.

True. Sorry, I stand corrected.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

1. Actions have consequences. The parents are getting away with having broken the law.

2. So many of us got hosed at the consulate for SUSPECTED illegality. Conversely, these people ARE illegal, and they're getting a free ride.

3. How many legitimate I-129F & I-130 petitions (and AOS, and ROC, and N-400) will be shoved to the back burner for untold months while these illegals move to the front of the line?

4. Let's see how much money Ms. Illegal Guatemalteca makes as a pediatrician under 0bamacare.

Comments?

I think its completely fair for the children, but the GC for the parents? How did they get those? It would be interesting to create a a DREAM act that required the parents to turn themselves in for the sake of the children.

[justashooter 430]

i\1 million votes for the left just bought, on your tax dollars and your unemployment status.

[rocks 494]

I think its completely fair for the children, but the GC for the parents? How did they get those? It would be interesting to create a a DREAM act that required the parents to turn themselves in for the sake of the children.

So the parents should return to their home country, with children who are citizens of America, to a country they know nothing about? Or the citizen children can stay here with no parents and go into the care system?

This sounds like the Theresa May plan.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

So the parents should return to their home country, with children who are citizens of America, to a country they know nothing about? Or the citizen children can stay here with no parents and go into the care system?

This sounds like the Theresa May plan.

When they turn 18, the parents would have to return home so that the child gets a GC. (Like say 18-24)

[Karee 4,190]

Kids parent's get locked up all the time for breaking the law. It wasn't the kids fault. I don't see them getting any special treatment from the government.

[rocks 494]

When they turn 18, the parents would have to return home so that the child gets a GC. (Like say 18-24)

So you think separating families is the right thing to do?