This is a brave move by the Obama Administration and we applaud it! Saving thousands of families from separation and injustice in our broken immigration system.
Reporting from Washington — President Obama moved to repair relations with a crucial voting bloc and opened another battle with Republican lawmakers by easing rules on the politically volatile issue of illegal immigration.
His proposal will probably affect tens of thousands — perhaps more than 100,000 — illegal residents. It would end a requirement that undocumented immigrants with parents or spouses in the United States leave the country first if they wish to file paperwork that would forestall deportation on the grounds of family hardship.
Without the so-called hardship waiver, illegal immigrants are barred from reentering the U.S. for up to 10 years. The existing rule often means that people seeking waivers must separate from their families for months or in some cases years while their applications are processed.
Under the new rule, which does not require congressional approval, immigrants would be allowed to stay in the U.S. and apply for a waiver, which can be granted if deporting an immigrant would cause undue hardship to his or her U.S. family. Once waivers are granted, immigrants may apply for green cards. They would still have to leave the U.S. to make those applications, but because they would have hardship waivers in hand, they would be very likely to gain readmission to the country.
Read the whole article here: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/06/nation/la-na-obama-immigration-20120107.
