Sandoval was among more than 100 Hispanic immigrants, many of them working-class refugees from Central America, who crammed into a small conference room at the Casa of Maryland agency in Hyattsville on Tuesday afternoon to watch the president’s speech on TV. They sat in silence, craning to hear every word, and burst into applause when Obama spoke of their right to achieve full American citizenship.
Organizers from the immigrant advocacy group echoed the audience’s excitement over Obama’s far-reaching call for a path to legalization for the country’s 11.1 million undocumented immigrants, which has been bolstered by the overwhelming support for his reelection by Hispanic voters. Similar positive reactions came from a variety of immigrant advocacy groups across the country late Tuesday.
However, the Casa officials also cautioned that any legislative proposals for legalization will face major political hurdles in the coming months, especially from conservative Republicans in the House and their highly vocal grass-roots supporters. As soon as Obama’s speech ended, the organizers called for a nationwide legalization campaign, to be highlighted by a mass rally in Washington on April 10.
Kim Propeack, an official with Casa, noted that under the detailed proposal for immigration reform announced Sunday by a bipartisan Senate group, the fate of undocumented immigrants who hope to become legalized will depend on “uncertain future actions,” such as stepped-up border enforcement and employer identification programs.
“We are going to have to really push for this and not let go,” said Ricardo Campos Alfaro, 23, a student from El Salvador and youth leader at Casa, who will now be able to attend college under Obama’s decision to defer deportation for many young undocumented immigrants. “Obama sent us a great and clear message,” he said. “Now we have to help him.”
After Obama’s speech, the audience was full of questions. A middle-aged laborer from El Salvador asked whether people had to have a clean police record and pay their taxes to qualify for legalization. An office cleaner and union organizer from Colombia said she was “happy but a little scared” — worried that students would win legality but that older workers might be “left behind, wondering if the immigration people would come for us.”
But the overall mood was jubilant and determined. Many people in the room promised to skip work and bring their children to the planned rally in April, which will fall on a Wednesday.
“I have amnesty, so I can work and go home to see my family, but this is my battle, too,” said Sandoval, referring to temporary legal protection granted to Central American civil war refugees in past years.
“People had so much doubt before, and they were afraid of being deported,” he said. “Now we must all stand up together.”
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