“Dreamers” across Wisconsin and the rest of the country breathed a sigh of relief as President Barack Obama’s recent change in enforcement of deportations will allow immigrants to stay in the country and work legally, although they would still have no way of becoming legal residents.
On June 15, President Obama announced the Department of Homeland Security will no longer deport a group of undocumented immigrants nicknamed “dreamers” after the recently-failed DREAM Act that would have granted them a path to citizenship.
Those immigrants must have no criminal record and be enrolled in school, be high school graduates or be veterans in the military. They also must have come to the U.S. before the age of 16 and must currently be 30 years old or younger. Immigrants are required to apply and renew this immigration status every two years with the DHS.
“This is a temporary stopgap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people,” Obama said at a news conference announcing the decision. “Let’s be clear – this is not amnesty, this is not immunity, this is not a path to citizenship.”
Denis Montero, a Milwaukee Area Technical College student affected by the change and an organizer with Voces de la Frontera’s youth branch, described a feeling of “exuberance” when he heard the announcement.
“We have been working on this for some time. It is the fruit of our labors but not something we will settle on,” Montero said.
Obama has had the authority to make the change in enforcement since his first day in office, said University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Enrique Figueroa, who is director of the Roberto Hernandez Center. He said despite being pleased with the result, some are disappointed with the nearly four years of delay and the fact that the decision came in the middle of Obama’s reelection campaign.
Madison Common Council President Shiva Bidar-Sielaff welcomed the change as something that gives hopes to children to “continue their academic excellence” and not discourage them early on because of their immigration status.
She said although the change is a step forward, Wisconsin took a step back when Gov. Scott Walker took away in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants who lived in Wisconsin.
Bidar-Sielaff said a brochure has been made by the city’s Department of Civil Rights and the Latino Support Network to inform local communities of the change, and another will be made when the regulations are released in the coming weeks.
Out of over 10 million undocumented immigrants in the country, Figueroa said it would affect a relatively small proportion, from 800,000 to 1.2 million, but described it as “a very vocal segment that has been quite effective in getting their story out.”
Figueroa said he believes comprehensive immigration reform might be realized in the coming years as the opposition loses credibility due to, for example, the record amounts of deportations during Obama’s time in office.
“For those affected, this is very good news,” Figueroa said. “They will be able to work without any fear, awaiting comprehensive immigration reform for their parents and for themselves.”
