DREAM Act Advocates Cheer Obama Speech

No Driver’s Licenses for Iowa ‘DREAMers’

Dec 272012

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(DES MOINES, Iowa) — Iowa DREAMers — thousands of undocumented people given a repreive from deportation by President Obama before the 2012 election — will not be awarded driver’s licenses.

The state’s Department of Transportation announced Thursday that it will not issue licenses or state identification cards to any of the illegal immigrants.

While some states, including California, Florida and Nevada, have said they will issue licenses, others, including Nebraska, Arizona and Michigan, have announced they will not.

Some groups, such as the National Immigration Law Center, have argued that deferred action recipients are eligible for licenses because they are eligible for work permits. But some states have countered that, because deferred action does not confer legal status upon recipients, state law prevents them from receiving licenses.

“The Iowa DOT understands the exercising of this prosecutorial discretion by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security does not grant lawful status or a lawful immigration path to persons granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival status,” the department said in a statement. “Rather, it is prosecutorial discretion extended in a blanket fashion to persons who are not lawfully authorized to be present in the United States.”

The Department of Homeland Security has said repeatedly that each state is responsible for determining whether to award driver’s licenses.

Immigrants’ rights organizations have filed suits in several states. In Michigan, several groups, including the National Immigration Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a suit against Republican Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson last week for blocking licenses for DREAMers.

According to the Des Moines Register, some Iowa deferred action recipients have already received driver’s licenses. One young man told the paper he was granted deferred action in October and issued a license a short time later after he passed the written and practical exams.

Paul Trombino, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said he knows of only one license and one non-operator identification card that have been issued so far. Those will no longer be valid and will have to be returned, he said.

The deferred action policy has drawn criticism from some Republican lawmakers in Iowa, including Representative Steve King and Senator Chuck Grassley, who have called it an overreach of executive power.

$465 for Legal Status Under Obama’s ‘Dream Act’

Aug 032012

Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The Obama administration will formally begin granting some young undocumented immigrants legal status and work permits later this month under a controversial new policy first announced by President Obama in June.

The Department of Homeland Security Friday announced details of the application and approval process for the DREAM Act-like program, outlining specific eligibility requirements and a $465 fee. It will begin Aug. 15.

Illegal immigrants younger than 30 who came to the United States before age 16, have lived here for at least five years continuously, attend or have graduated from high school or college, and have no criminal convictions are eligible to submit requests for so-called deferred action. In other words, they would be exempt from deportation.

The administration said documentation provided by each applicant will be reviewed individually on a case-by-case basis at one of four service centers run by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. It’s unclear how long each review will take, but some immigrants are expected to receive temporary legal status before Election Day.

While the “dreamers” will not obtain a path to citizenship or the right to vote, Obama’s policy shift — circumventing Congress with executive action – has been widely seen as a politically motivated nod to Hispanics who have long sought the change.

Obama’s Republican critics Friday sharply assailed the new policy as unconstitutional and out of touch with the jobs crisis U.S. citizens face.

“Today’s deferred action guidance is another example of how the president’s policies put the interests of illegal immigrants ahead of the interests of U.S. citizens and legal immigrants,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith said.

“On the same day the unemployment rate rose to 8.3 percent, the Obama administration announced a requirement for illegal immigrants to apply to be able to work in the U.S.,” the GOP congressman from Texas said. “The administration’s guidelines don’t just encourage illegal immigrants to work in the U.S., they actually require them to apply to do so.”

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the process is a compassionate and common-sense approach to a group of individuals who were brought to the United States illegally by no fault of their own and have grown up as Americans.

“Our nation’s immigration laws must be enforced in a firm and sensible manner,” Napolitano said in a statement. “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.”

Undocumented Immigrant Sees Impact of Obama Shift on 2012 Campaign

Jun 232012

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.) — Jose Manuel Godinez-Samperi can’t vote in the November election. But Godinez-Samperi, along with and tens of thousands of other young undocumented immigrants are indelibly influencing the 2012 presidential race.

These so-called “dreamers,” who came to the U.S. before age 16, entering the country illegally alongside their parents or as tourists, and grew up as Americans, are now at the center of a high-stakes policy debate over deportations, jobs and citizenship.

Its tone and substance is particularly resonant with Latino voters in several key swing states, including Florida.

“It shows the influence that ‘dreamers’ have in this country. We’ve come a long way in the past 10 years since we’ve been fighting for the DREAM Act. It shows that people can’t ignore us anymore,” said Godinez-Samperi, 25, a Mexican by birth who came to the U.S. with his parents as a fourth grader.

“Both presidential candidates are paying us attention, and in part that has been thanks to Sen. Marco Rubio who helped open the political space by making his proposal,” he said in an interview with ABC News on the sidelines of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference here.

Rubio, a Republican from Florida who is under consideration as a potential running mate for GOP nominee Mitt Romney, had recently drafted new legislation to provide relief for young immigrants like Godinez-Samperi, who live under threat of deportation. He was ultimately preempted by President Obama, who last week used executive authority to temporarily suspend removals and grant work permits to qualified youth.

“It will certainly help in the election for Obama,” said Godinez-Samperi, who was skeptical the shift would yield immediate, personal benefits while acknowledging it as a step forward.

“The discourse is changing. People are talking about it differently,” he said. “Presidential candidate Romney before was talking about how we should all self-deport and he would veto the Dream Act. But now his position is less clear. So the fact that we have been able to change the discourse in this country is a huge step forward.”

Romney has said he would replace Obama’s temporary measure with a permanent solution, but has not fully outlined what that would be. He has previously said he would veto the DREAM Act, a piece of bipartisan legislation first introduced in 2001 that would grant legal status to illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. before age 16, have clean criminal records, graduated high school and attend college or join the military. It has failed to pass Congress on several tries, most recently in 2010.

How will the candidates’ position on the DREAM Act play with Latino voters in Florida?

“It makes a huge difference because there are a lot of people that are voting for me, especially in this state,” Godinez-Samperi said.

Public opinion polls show a majority of Americans support the DREAM Act provisions, with the strongest backing coming from Latino voters from across the political spectrum.

“I’ve been living in this country the majority of my life. I haven’t committed any crimes. I haven’t been arrested for anything. I’ve never been in trouble. All I’m asking is a chance to contribute to this society,” said Godinez-Samperi. He graduated from a Florida high school as valedictorian in 2004 and later earned a law degree from Florida State University College of Law.

Godinez-Samperi passed the Florida bar exam on his first try but was denied a license by the Florida Board of Examiners because of his legal status, he said. He is now asking the Florida Supreme Court to review his case.

“I’m in the same boat as Senator Marco Rubio,” he said. “He graduated from law school just like I did. He passed the bar exam just like I did. And if I were in his position, if I were to get the benefits he got because he’s Cuban I would very gladly strive to do as much public service as he did.”

Obama Swipes at Romney in Address to Latino Officials

Jun 222012

JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images(LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.) — It was billed as an “official” presidential speech on policy, but President Obama thrust election year politics front and center at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials annual conference today – including direct attacks on GOP rival Mitt Romney.

“Yesterday your featured speaker came here and said that the election in November isn’t about two people; it’s not about being a Republican or Democrat or an independent; it is about the future of America. And while we’ve got a lot of differences, he and I, on this point, I could not agree more,” Obama said at the top of his remarks.

But then the president framed the 2012 race as a stark choice, with high economic stakes for Latinos and the middle class.

“The question is not whether we need to do better. Of course the economy isn’t where it needs to be. Of course there’s still too many who struggle. We’ve got so much work to do,” Obama said. “But the question is, how do we make the economy grow faster? How do we create more jobs? How do we create more opportunity? The question is, what vision are we going to stand up for? Who are we going to fight for? That’s what we have to decide right now. That’s what this election’s about.”

Obama said his vision for economic growth centers on increased government spending on programs aimed at boosting the middle class, including federal aid to states to hire teachers and first responders, education and job training programs, and infrastructure projects to put construction workers back on the job.

“What’s holding us back is a stalemate, a stalemate in Washington between two fundamentally different views of which direction we should go,” Obama said.

“The Republicans who run Congress, the man at the top of their ticket — they don’t agree with any of the proposals I just talked about. They believe the best way to grow the economy is from the top down,” he said. “I think they’re wrong.”

Turning to immigration, Obama claimed to be a champion of ever-elusive comprehensive reform from the beginning of his term and pledged to continue to fight for it. He did not mention the two years Democrats controlled Congress.

“In the face of a Congress that refuses to do anything on immigration, I’ve said that I’ll take action wherever I can,” he said.

He called the executive action he took last week, suspending deportation of some young illegal immigrants and granting them work permits, an important albeit temporary step toward the DREAM Act. He blamed Republicans for obstructing its passage five years after co-sponsoring it.

“The need had not changed. The bill hadn’t changed, written with Republicans. The only thing that had changed was politics,” Obama said, lambasting congressional GOP to standing applause. “And I refused to keep looking young people in the eye — deserving young people in the eye and telling them, tough luck, the politics is too hard.”

Then, taking a swipe at Romney, Obama said: “Your speaker from yesterday has a different view. In his speech, he said that when he makes a promise to you, he’ll keep it. Well, he has promised to veto the DREAM Act. And we should take him at his word. I’m just saying. I believe that would be a tragic mistake. You do too.”

DREAM Act Advocates Cheer Obama Speech

Jun 152012

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Although the typical partisan sniping on Capitol Hill was just getting started in Washington before President Obama’s statement Friday afternoon, a few blocks from the White House young undocumented immigrants watched the speech beaming with joy and pride in America.

Following the president’s speech there was a touching emotional moment as Gaby Pacheco, a 27-year-old DREAM Act advocate, stood and let out a sigh of relief and then spoke from the heart before the group which had assembled at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Pacheco praised volunteers and workers and singled out Jose Antonio Vargas, the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist who revealed last year that he was an undocumented immigrant in a New York Times essay.

Vargas is featured on the cover of this week’s Time Magazine with other undocumented immigrants in a story titled, “We are Americans.”

Pacheco has lived in the United States for two decades, arriving in Miami with her family from Ecuador. She plans to become a doctor.

“When we have the Time magazine article that shows our beautiful faces, an array, men, women people from all over the world … representing people that want to be psychologists and doctors and dancers and artists, saying give us a chance. Today we are finally free.” Pacheco said.

“We’ve been in this golden cage and the door has been opened and now it’s our chance to be free. But with that comes a responsibility, because this not forever, this is temporary.” Pacheco said.

“With that comes the responsibility to our parents … because our parents gave everything to come to this nation. Our parents did everything, they left behind their family, their language, their careers, everything they knew to give us an opportunity. To give us that American dream that everybody comes to this Nation seeking,” Pacheco told the crowd of DREAM Act advocates.

“We have a responsibility to our friends, to our family members who have been left out. My sister who is over the age of 30, she is a dreamer. And we have a responsibility to her,” Pacheco said, referencing the age limit of undocumented immigrants being given deportation relief if they are younger than 30 and have no criminal record.

Directing remarks to her friend, 31-year old Jose Antonio Vargas, Gaby continued, “We have a responsibility to a man that made this possible. We have a responsibility to him and to this nation to continue fighting. We are going to celebrate today.”

“Because this is the power that our community has. We can no longer be ignored … this is a new chapter in the history of this country. This is a very historic moment and we have to embrace it and celebrate it and thank those that made it possible,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“This is not over, this is the beginning of a great new chapter in our lives. I am going to continue personally my education. I going to be Dr. Pacheco,” she said as the room cheered for her.

Looking to the future and the American dream Pacheco said, “You’ll see from this group of people future congressmen, future senators, and maybe we’ll challenge the constitution and maybe get a future President … because we believe in this nation and we believe this is our country and we believe that we have a lot to give and our talents to give back. But we want to thank those that made it possible.”

Speaking to Vargas she said, “You have redefined America, you have … and we thank you for everything,” she said before hugging Vargas.

Vargas who is 31 and is not covered by Friday’s announcement, wiped the tears from his eyes and said, “she was the first person I told before the New York Times essay last summer … ”

Vargas who noted in the Time article that quietly trying to live in America, while working as a journalist weighed on him. “I carried your heart with me… I carried it… we’ve been through a lot together, there is a lot more to do because this is not complete. And together this is beyond politics, this is beyond partisanship, this is about doing the right thing.”

“I thank you for your leadership and I think you for your sacrifices and thank you for welcoming me,” Vargas told the group.

Older Entries