• 12
  • January
    2012

Early January, President Obama proposed a new immigration rule that would positively affect some illegal immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses or parents. Undocumented immigrants would be able to stay in the United States and avoid deportation/detention/removal while they applied for a hardship waiver.

Currently, the USCIS requires hardship waiver applicants to return to their native countries while the U.S. reviews their applications. The review process can take many months, even years. During that time, the families are separated from each other, often creating the hardships that the hardship waivers are meant to prevent.

Meanwhile, those illegally in the United States can face deportation. If they don't have an immigration waiver, they can be barred from coming back to the U.S. for 10 years. Obama's proposal would prevent deportation and keep families together.

While the proposed rule is promising, it may only delay deportation for some undocumented immigrants. Hardship waivers are not easy to obtain. Immigrants must prove that deportation would cause extreme hardship to their U.S. citizen spouses or parents. Furthermore, if an immigrant receives the waiver, he or she still must go back to his or her native country in order to apply for permanent residency (a green card).

Still, a step in the right direction is better than nothing. The next few years will be pivotal, with immigration front-and-center of many political debates. For example, new sources are already buzzing about President Obama's recent appointment of an immigration reform advocate as head of his Domestic Policy Council: Cecilia Muñoz, a former immigration expert with the National Council of La Raza.

Source: Los Angeles Times, "Obama's Immigration Proposal Gives Hope to Some in Limbo," Anna Gorman, Jan. 9, 2012.