GOP blasts Obama's Illegal Immigration Amnesty Decree

GOP blasts Obama's Immigration Proposal(<-- Biased and Inaccurate Media Title of Article)

GOP leaders, such as Rep Lamar Smith (R-Texas), called the president's action another move to grant “backdoor amnesty to” people who are in the country illegally.

Republicans and immigration-enforcement hardliners are blasting the Obama administration's recent announcement that it plans to ease the process for some who are in the country illegally to become legal residents.

BY CINDY CARCAMO / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Jan. 9, 2012 Updated: 12:49 p.m.

Over the weekend, Republican leaders accused Obama of abusing his executive power, calling it a calculated move to garner the Latino vote for this year's election.

The administration announced a rule change that would make it easier for immigrant visa applicants to stay with their parents or spouses who are U.S. citizens, instead of forcing them to separate during the application process. The move is the latest attempt by the Obama administration to use executive authority to implement immigration reform without congressional action.


Last year, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that immigration officials would use their discretion before deporting people who are in the country illegally.


GOP and anti-illegal immigration activists, such as Dan Stein at Federation for American Immigration Reform, called the president's action another move to grant "backdoor amnesty to" those in the country illegally.


"President Obama and his administration are bending long established rules to put illegal immigrants ahead of the interests of American citizens and legal immigrants," House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said in a written statement. "This proposal from the Obama administration comes with no surprise considering their abuse of administrative powers."


Last week's announcement came as the president gears up for his re-election campaign. Analysts have said he needs the Latino vote to win crucial swing states, such as Florida and Nevada. Last year a Pew Hispanic Center Poll found that 59 percent of Latinos disapproved of Obama's handling of deportations.

Immigration has become a sticky issue for the Obama administration. The president has come under fire by activists and some Latino leaders who say he has failed to follow through on a campaign promise to pass immigration reform that would legalize the millions in the country illegally.


Currently, those who are in the country illegally but are married or have parents or immediate relatives who are U.S. citizens are allowed under immigration law to become legal U.S. residents. But a snag in immigration law in those cases requires the applicant to return to their country of origin as a condition of receiving a legal visa.


However, once the applicant leaves the country, the law automatically bars them from returning to the U.S. for at least three years and sometimes up to a decade even though they are eligible for legal U.S. residency.


While immigration agency officials provide a waiver that allows the applicant to stay in the U.S. during the visa process, getting such a waiver is difficult and can take as long as gaining permanent residency. The average processing time for such a wavier is at least six months but often takes a lot longer, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services head Alejandro Mayorkas said in the teleconference


The change means these visa applicants will be allowed to stay during the processing of the waiver and visa application. If the applicant meets qualifications, he or she will be given a provisional waiver in the U.S. and can stay before they have to leave for their home countries to pick up their visas.


There are still some steps before the regulation is implemented, but it could go into effect some time this year, Mayorkas said.