Undocumented Immigrants in the USA Will Spend Christmas in Peace

On Thursday President Barack Obama announced that he will give temporary immigration relief to some 5 million of the 11.4 million undocumented immigrants that currently live in the United States. This will supposedly be the most regularization of undocumented workers in three decades, according to the reports from international news agencies.

The partial immigration announcement made by Obama does not fulfill the expectations of the entire immigrant population in the northern power, since the announcement will only favor 5 million of the 11 million undocumented immigrants. But it is sufficient enough for the population without residence documents to pass Christmastime peacefully with none of the previous mass deportations.

Obama’s announcement was, without a doubt, a delayed reaction to the defeat dealt to the Democratic Party in the elections a few weeks ago, in which they lost the majority in the Senate. This put the conservative party at the head of Congress, which forces the Obama administration into further dialogue with the opposing party to govern with some kind of peace left in the government.

The United States, and primarily Obama, have a debt to the 11 million undocumented immigrants, since one of the promises of Obama in both of his campaigns was to push immigration reform that he was not able to take up even when the Democratic Party held the majority of the votes. This was because even in the Democratic Party there was a division on the immigration issue.

And after the immigrant protest vote in past elections in the United States, it would be good if the victors, the conservative party, can read it in an objective manner and do what Obama offered but did not complete. And given that they are the majority in Congress, they can give permanent authorization to the 11 million undocumented immigrants.

“If you meet the criteria, you can come out of the shadows. If you’re a criminal you’ll be deported. If you plan to enter the U.S. illegally, your chances of getting caught and sent back just went up,” Obama said as he cited the criteria for candidates to be deported in the beneficial but limited immigration announcement.

Obama also announced that immigrants who have lived in the United States for more than five years and are parents of United States citizens or are permanent legal residents could also benefit from the executive action. Upon registering, they will complete a background check and pay their back taxes and will be guaranteed that they will not be deported during the next three years.

We do not know how many Salvadorans, of the millions that reside there, will benefit. But without a doubt, the announcement has brought some extended comfort to their family members here in El Salvador.

Currently, as they say, that is what we have and that is what should be applauded, although it does not indicate that we cannot get more. That will depend on the governments of the immigrant countries and the lobbying they can do to obtain new benefits.