US Stops Sending Back Illegal Immigrants; Obama Accused of Political Speculation

The United States has decided not to send back certain illegal immigrants who were brought to America as young children and who fulfill specific requirements. This new measure will allow up to 800,000 people to stay in the country and file work permit applications with local authorities in order to take up residence legally in the United States.

Janet Napolitano, secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security, announced yesterday that illegal immigrants must fulfill the following criteria in order to avoid deportation: have come to the United States before the age of 16, are under the age of 30, do not present a risk to national security, have continuously resided in the United States for at least five years, are currently in school or have already graduated from high school, have served in the U.S. military, have not been convicted of a significant offense or multiple offenses.

Later in the White House, President Obama stated publicly that this new policy benefits the U.S. economy and security. On the other hand, Republicans are criticizing Obama for political speculation for his presidential campaign.

Obama has always supported the children of illegal immigrants who study and work in the United States, but due to opposition from the Republican Party, related measures have never passed Congress. He emphasized that the new measure is not an amnesty to the children of illegal immigrants. These youngsters are Americans in every aspect except the lack of legal documents.

Illegal immigration has always been one of the hot topics in the United States. According to one estimation, there are approximately 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States; the majority of them are from Latin American countries.

The new measure coincides with Obama’s talk to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials next week in Florida. His opponent, Mitt Romney, will also be giving a talk at that conference. Both of them will try to win over the support of Latino voters.

However, Romney has always kept a tough stance toward the problem of illegal immigration in order to please conservative voters. Moreover, Republicans are accusing Obama of striving for political bargaining points through the introduction of the new measures.

John McCain, the Arizona senator who challenged Obama in the 2008 presidential election, said, “Today’s announcement by President Obama is a publicly motivated power grab that does nothing to further the debate but instead adds additional confusion and uncertainty to our broken immigration system.”

Lamar Smith, Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, criticizes Obama for a breach of credit because illegal immigrants accept relatively low wages, and says the new measure will have terrible consequences for unemployed Americans.

Some Republicans believe that Obama may face legal liabilities because he announced the new policy without the consent of Congress. Nevertheless, several law professors have stated that the president has this temporary regulation of administrative power and prosecution discretion.

Political analysts have pointed out that the presidential election is intense and this is a smart strategy by Obama. Carl Jillson, a politics professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said, “The Obama administration knows it’s in a very tight race and if the margins that it enjoyed among unmarried women, gays, Hispanics and blacks don’t hold, then he might end up on the wrong end of this thing, so he’s going around and touching all these bases.”