Immigration in the United States

The White House embraced the immigration reform proposal but stopped short of pledging President Obama’s signature, noting that actual legislation on the issue has yet to be drafted.

“It’s a set of principles that mirror the president’s principles,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at Monday’s briefing.

“This is the beginning of a process, at least in terms of legislation that needs to be crafted and voted on and hopefully signed by the president,” Carney said. “He is encouraged by the progress we’ve seen from both parties in the Senate and looks forward to working with members of both parties.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) called the framework a “positive first step” and and promised to do everything he can to help a bipartisan bill pass the Senate this year.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Reid said that “the true test of our congressional leadership will be to pass a comprehensive bill.” He added that Congress must pursue a comprehensive rewrite of immigration laws — not individual bills rewriting sections of the code piecemeal. And he said bipartisan action is key.

The statement of principles unveiled by the group of eight senators Monday includes a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally, ramped-up border security and a reformed legal immigration system.

Despite being authored by lawmakers of both parties, the set of principles could face sharp opposition on Capitol Hill, where the last proposal for a comprehensive immigration overhaul sank in 2007. Three years later, in the 2010 lame-duck session, legislation that would have provided a path to citizenship for young people who were brought to the country illegally as children was introduced only to fall short of passage in the Senate.

Supreme Court ruling on Arizona immigration law— June 25, 2012

On June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court rejected much of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, but upheld other provisions, giving a partial victory to the Obama administration.

The court ruled that Arizona cannot make it a misdemeanor for immigrants to fail to carry identification that says whether they are in the United States legally; cannot make it a crime for undocumented immigrations to apply for a job; and cannot arrest someone based solely on the suspicion that the person is in this country illegally.

However, the court upheld the part of the law that requires police to check the immigration status of anyone they detain, if there is “reasonable suspicion” that the person is unlawfully in the United States. Even there, though, the justices said the provision could be subject to additional legal challenges.

Executive Order on Deportation Policy — June 15, 2012

The Obama administration will block deportations of hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants who had been brought to the country as children, ending a years-long standoff with Hispanic activists who are crucial to the president’s 2012 reelection campaign.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano made the announcement in a statement on June 15, 2012.

Under the new plan, illegal immigrants will be immune from deportation if they were brought to the United States before they turned 16 and are younger than 30, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have no criminal history, graduated from a U.S. high school or earned a GED, or served in the military. They also can apply for a work permit that will be good for two years with no limits on how many times it can be renewed. The officials who described the plan spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss it in advance of the official announcement.

The policy change bypasses Congress and partially achieves the goals of the so-called DREAM Act. The act is a long-sought but never enacted plan to establish a path toward citizenship for young people who came to the United States illegally but who have attended college or served in the military.

The policy will not lead toward citizenship but will remove the threat of deportation and grant the ability to work legally, leaving eligible immigrants able to remain in the United States for extended periods.

“Our nation’s immigration laws must be enforced in a firm and sensible manner,” said Napolitano said. “But they are not designed to be blindly enforced without consideration given to the individual circumstances of each case. Nor are they designed to remove productive young people to countries where they may not have lived or even speak the language. Discretion, which is used in so many other areas, is especially justified here.”

The issue has been a major point of contention between immigration advocates and President Obama. Advocates have spent months urging the president to take executive action to spare many young illegal immigrants from deportation, and until now Obama has insisted that he did not have the authority to do so.

Napolitano announced the new policy one week before Obama plans to address the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials’ annual conference in Orlando. Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney is scheduled to speak to the group on Thursday.

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