Contributed by Amber L. Blasingame, Associate Attorney, Colorado Springs Office
In the wake of congressional
“do-nothingism,” per Rep. Luis Gutierrez, President Obama announced plans on
June 30, 2014, to implement additional immigration relief within the power of
the executive branch before the end of this summer. The President did not
provide more specifics on his intentions. However, in April, the Congressional
Hispanic Caucus (CHC or Caucus) presented a draft of a confidential memorandum
to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson outlining possible options within
the power of the executive branch “to end the needless separation of American
families” affected by immigration enforcement. The memo, which was subsequently
leaked to the media, includes suggestions both on affirmative administrative
relief and immigration enforcement.
The CHC offers five possible
affirmative administrative relief actions that the President could execute with
the “confines of the law.” The options for relief presented in the memo include
the following: (1) Expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
(DACA) program to family members of DACA recipients who would qualify for
relief per the Senate Immigration Reform Bill (S. 744); (2) Expansion of
“Parole in Place” benefits to undocumented immigrants other than family members
of military personnel; (3) Eligibility to adjust to permanent residence for
DACA or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients who travel and reenter on
“advance parole” despite prior unlawful presence; (4) Expansion of Humanitarian
Parole to immediate family members of DACA recipients and immediate relatives
of US Citizens and Permanent Residents; and (5) Extending eligibility for
enlistment in the military to recipients of DACA, TPS, Asylum, or Refugee
Status under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI)
program.
In addition, the CHC memorandum advises
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to modify the agency’s “policies and
practices to reflect a more humane approach to immigration enforcement.” The
Caucus advocates a clarification of the “extreme hardship” standard for waivers
and provisional waivers of grounds of inadmissibility, such as for unlawful
presence, that incorporates prior DHS decisions and memorandums. Furthermore,
the Caucus proposed an expansion of the provisional waiver to spouses and
children of permanent residents. On the subject of deportation proceedings, the
memorandum requested a review of enforcement priorities and a refinement of
prosecutorial discretion practices to provide “case-by-case use of deferred
action” and adjusting the weight of positive factors over negative factors, a
limitation on “deportations without hearings” which includes expedited removals
at the border, and restricting detainment of immigrants to the “highest
priority cases.” The CHC likewise counseled a termination of Secure Communities
to improve safety, reduce racial profiling, rebuild community trust, and
relieve local law enforcement of any obligation to participate in immigration
enforcement programs. As a final point, the Caucus called for improvements in
“short term custody” to improve the conditions and treatment of immigrants in immigration
detention facilities.
Bookmark this post with:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.