Obama’s Steady Immigration Reform

Before the end of the year, President Barack Obama plans to finalize the details to complete his promise of solving the situation of millions of immigrants without papers, in response to the inaction of Congress on approving an integral immigration reform. Although the reach of his enactments has not been worked out yet, many surveys estimate that at least 5 million undocumented immigrants in the country will benefit.

However many people it reaches, and despite that every step will only be temporary, the Republican opposition has already expressed its concern over President Obama using his executive powers and acting via decrees. They are warning that a presidential action of this type would signify a complete clash with Congress, which Republicans now control.

It can clearly be seen that an apparently “international” matter in the United States is instead “a domestic agenda” that provokes intense debates and big disagreements in U.S. politics. One section is trying to push forward in a linear fashion a reform that did not take flight in the House of Representatives, and another section is threatening that if the temporary relief for the immigrants proceeds, the political resentment will be such that any attempt at integral immigration reform at the legislative level will not last long. And meanwhile, our immigrants will continue to be the ham of this tragi-comedy sandwich. While the politicians try to come to an agreement, millions of these immigrants will continue in ignominy and in legal limbo, hopeful for obtaining the tranquility that a legal status in this country can grant.

The election has already passed, but there is always another series of elections around the corner. It is thought that resorting to executive action has considerable inconveniences. There are those who consider that whoever accepts the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2016 will not wish to take on the blame for the executive action their predecessor launched. But the election results have been obvious. They sent a clear message to Obama that it is no longer possible to continue with the sterile discourse that it’s coming, it’s coming, and the reform never comes. All the president can do now is offer temporary relief.

On the other hand, if the Republicans are so worried over the president’s action with respect to their immigration reform, they should draft a bill offering legal status to the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, thus putting them on the solution side of the problem.

The key is in the scope of measures that Obama can enact. Experts and observers agree that they will focus on two themes: family ties and how long the undocumented immigrants have been in the country. A successful model would be the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals that Obama enacted in 2012 and that has benefited more than half a million undocumented children, something that can now be extended to their family members. These mitigating measures would also benefit the relatives of U.S. citizens — such as spouses or parents — to accelerate the regularization process or avoid having them wait abroad for up to 10 years, as it is now.

Let us hope that regardless of the course taken by the announced decision, our Salvadoran immigrants benefit greatly from this new trial. And let us hope that legal persons or institutions established for them advise them well before undertaking any decision that can affect their actual immigration status.