Executive Action on Immigration Expected Soon

Just before the summer ends President Obama is expected to dig into some executive action in order to remedy the alarming immigration crisis that has set in the country.

Just some time ago the President sounded as if he was ready to take some punitive action on his own. This has been largely an extension of his own decision two years ago – to postpone the deportation of hundreds of “Dreamers” or children illegally brought into the country. This need to take action has also been triggered largely due to the paralysis displayed by the Congress to take steps and make a thorough immigration overhaul, or even create an emergency funding in order to deal with the massive influx of children who are pouring in across the borders.

In a recently held press conference the President promised the people of the nation that he was ready to act on his own, and he would not wait for members of the Congress to initiate a solution for the looming crisis.

When children and adults enter the country illegally they unfortunately bypass many mandatory checks of the entire immigration process – the Medical Immigration Examination, for instance, which ensures that the immigrant is medically fit and can reside in the country, without the dangers of having contracted any contagious or infectious diseases. The Medical Immigration Examination can only be conducted by USCIS-approved Civil Surgeons, and the routine check consists of a battery of tests.

Currently the Department of Homeland Security is in the process of preparing some options for the President to consider. Two legal actions proposed are:

1.MORE HOPE FOR DREAMERS: The President could consider improving on the program for Dreamers, giving them some relief from deportation. He might even consider issuing them work permits. This would imply that the parents of undocumented children would be given temporary status to live and work. Instead of prosecuting an illegal immigrant discretion would be employed in the current scenario; one could describe it as a deferred action. The same kind of deferred action was taken in the year 2013, a year which saw the creation of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals), which 6 lac people had taken advantage of. The main goal for the President is very evident- keeping the families of immigrants together, even if it means giving temporary status to the undocumented parents of children born in the US.

2.PAROLE IN PLACE: Parole in place is granting parole to aliens in the US who have not been admitted or paroled. By granting PIP, the need for qualified recipients to return to their home country can be eliminated. The spouses of American citizens could now get relief – now they currently would have to leave the country for up to a decade before being allowed to re-enter the US legally.

What is a fact is that whatever action is taken by the current President could be changed by the new President, and maybe this explains the President’s reluctance to chart a course of action. Moreover, there are certain executive actions that the President cannot take – like for instance, he cannot issue green cards to people, he cannot force them to go through the Medical Immigration Examination compulsorily, he cannot give them citizenship, nor can he exceed the use of authority in deciding on the future course of action in immigration. A status quo of sorts, if one may call it that.