First Reported Cases Benefiting from 8/18/11 Obama Administration Announcement

Scattered reports in the media have indicated that the August 18, 2011 announcement by the Obama Administration may be starting to have some effect.

CNN reports that an Arizona attorney was contacted by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials and told that she should request that her case be dismissed. The Huffington Post reports that two teenage men in Georgia have also had their deportation cases closed under the new policy.

Despite these reports of what seems to be an implementation of the August 18 announcement, it is important to recognize that the announcement is not an amnesty and does not grant anyone legal status. There is no new application that can be filed or that a person can sign up for. The announcement does not create any new way to file for a work permit either. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) put out a consumer advisory warning that there is no sure way to know whether one's case would be safely considered "low priority" under the new announcement and no sure way to know that a particular "low priority" case won't be prosecuted anyway.

While it will be interesting to see if these sporadic reports turn into a general trend of closing cases deemed "low priority" by DHS, for the time being there seems to be little change on the ground.

To read the CNN article, click here;

For the Huffington Post article, click here;

To review the AILA consumer advisory, click here.

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Obama's Amnesty? Not so Fast

The Obama Administration announced on Thursday that it will make a case-by-case review of some 300,000 immigrants facing possible deportation in immigration courts around the country. The stated goal of the review is to focus on removing convicted criminals who might pose a threat to national security or public safety.

The Thursday announcement follows a June memo from the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), John Morton, outlining when and how ICE agents could use prosecutorial discretion in immigration cases.

Administration officials, to this point speaking anonymously, have indicated that those whose deportations are put on hold may be eligible for work authorization. Whether this would come in the form of an order of deferred action or some other way is unclear.

In fact, much of how this new policy will play out on the ground remains unclear. We know that it does not give anyone a new path to lawful permanent resident status. As of yet, there is no known way to affirmatively apply to have one's case put on hold or to apply for work authorization based on the new policy.

How this new policy unfolds will depend on how DHS officers and attorneys implement it. Which immigrants actually end up benefiting from this new policy is still far from clear.

Read the Washington Post Article.

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