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FACT SHEET ON OBAMA'S IMMIGRATION ORDER
How Does it Affect You?
President Obama's Immigration Accountability Executive Actions is designed to fix U.S. broken immigration system which the partisanship at the current Congress could not resolve. It grants temporary visas to certain undocumented immigrants and focuses on the deportation of convicted felons rather than families. Below are the salient facts:
1. Undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for at least five years, andhave children who either were born in the U.S. or are legal permanent residents are eligible for deportation protection and a three year work permit. This permit will also allow them to obtain a Social Security number and get a driver's license.
2. The executive order also expands eligibility for the president's Deferred Action Childhood Arrival (DACA) amnesty. Undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as a minor before January 1, 2010 will be eligible for DACA amnesty. The amnesty was previously available only to illegal immigrants up to the age of 30 who arrived as children illegally before June 15, 2007. DACA recipients will also get work permits,Social Security numbers, and driver's licenses.
3. Undocumented immigrants eligible under group 1 and 2 above will be granted deportation relief for three years and will have to reapply every three years for the deportation relief.
4. Undocumented immigrants covered by the executive order will not be eligible for certain government benefits including subsidies for health care under the Affordable Care Act.
5. The enforcement of current immigration laws will be focused on the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have been identified as national security threats or convicted of serious criminal offenses, and recent border crossers.
6. Before Obama's executive order of 2014, conservatives and Republican Party controlled states like Nebraska and Arizona have kept undocumented immigrants who qualified for Obama's 2012 amnesty from getting driver's licenses and other state services and benefits while liberal states like California, Maryland and Nevada are more accommodating. The same pattern will likely repeat under the 2014 executive order.
7. After Obama's Deferred Action Childhood Arrival amnesty was made in 2012, the waiting times for visas for legal migrants increased from less than 1 year to approximately 2 years. With the 2014 executive order waiting times for legal migrants will likely double.
8. Although, Obama's executive action does not allow undocumented immigrants eligible for the deportation relief the opportunity to obtain permanent residency or citizenship, which only the Congress can offer, their children who are US citizens can confer such status on them.
9. The Republican Party controlled Congress is strongly against Obama's 2014 executive order and is seeking ways to block it or defund the president's immigration initiatives. The speaker of the House of Representatives have threatened to file legal action to declare Obama's executive action unconstitutional and invalid.
10. The state of Texas is leading a 17 state coalition suing the Obama administration over the president's executive actions on immigration claiming that the move is unconstitutional. However, it is not likely that this court case will be resolved before the expiration of Obama's remaining 2 years tenure.
11. Regulatory changes will be made to allow migrant employees with approved green card application who are waiting for their visa to be able to move or change jobs more easily. Their spouses will also be able to obtain employment authorization during the waiting period.
12. Rules for obtaining immigrant visas for foreign entrepreneurs who meet certain criteria for creating jobs, attracting investment and generating revenue in the U.S. will be enhanced to ensure the continuous growing of the U.S. economy.