On immigration reform, deportations, the DREAM Act, and many more issues. ¡Usted si puede, Sr. Presidente!
Commentary:
By Alberto Marrero Salas
President Obama states that he can’t bypass Congress on immigration matters. Yes we know that the teabaggers will not support any type of comprehensive immigration reform.
We also know, Mr. President, that you could have passed comprehensive immigration reform in the first 180 days of your Presidency as you had Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate. These majorities were bullet proof. There was nothing that could have stopped it. But you chose not to.
We also know, Mr. President, that Guatemala requested that you grant TPS or Temporary Protected Status for tens of thousands of Guatemalans that were under pending asylum application.
These asylum applications have been pending since 1991. These folks have been here LEGALLY since 1991. Yet the USCIS decided to conduct asylum interviews. Since the war in Guatemala ended i 1996 these people do not qualify for asylum.
We are talking about people that have been here 20 years. They have kids born here who are 19, 20 years old. They have bought homes, paid their taxes and contributed to this country. Now they are facing deportation.
The Salvadorans were covered under TPS granted by (Oh, the horror) George W. Bush. So when their asylum claims were denied, no problem. They applied for TPS and avoided deportation.
Same situation existed with the Hondurans. Their asylum claims were denied and they were able to stay here under TPS.
You, Mr. President, did not do what George W. Bush did and what Bill Clinton did … grant TPS status. Mr. President, you did not need Congress or the teabaggers to approve TPS. All you had to do was approve it and you did not.
Mr. President you can also do more to block anti-immigrant legislation in Utah, Alabama, Indiana and Georgia by suing them in court, just like you did Arizona.
You can also, without Congressional authority, allow immigrants with immediate family members (spouses, children, parents) to adjust their status here in the U.S. without having to leave the country.
You can also oppose the radical teabaggers who want to make E-Verify law in order to verify legal status as the database that is full of errors and will kill hundred of thousands of jobs due to errors in the E-Verify database.
You can also grant relief from deportation to young people who would have qualified under the Dream Act. You can grant deferred deportation to the Dreamers.
Mr. President, visiting East Los Angeles and wearing a sombrero while eating a taco or drinking cafe at calle 8 in Little Habana, and yelling “¡Si se puede!” is not enough.
Mr. President…tu si puedes….act accordingly.