Thread: Obama Admin. plans change in immigration rule

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press – 29 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration plans a rule change to help reduce the time illegal immigrant spouses and children are separated from citizen relatives while they try to win legal status in the United States, a senior administration official said Thursday.

Currently, illegal immigrants must leave the country before they can ask the government to waive a three- to 10-year ban on legally coming back to the U.S. The length of the ban depends on how long they have lived in the U.S. without permission.

The official said the new rule would let children and spouses of citizens ask the government to decide on the waiver request before the illegal immigrant heads to his or her home country to apply for a visa. The illegal immigrants still must go home to finish the visa process to come back to the U.S., but getting the waiver ahead of time could reduce the time an illegal immigrant is out of the country.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the proposed policy change had not been made public.

The waiver shift is the latest move by President Barack Obama to make changes to immigration policy without congressional action. Congressional Republicans repeatedly have criticized the administration for policy changes they describe as providing "backdoor amnesty" to illegal immigrants.

Immigrants who do not have criminal records and who have only violated immigration laws can win a waiver if they can prove that their absence would cause an "extreme hardship" for their citizen spouse or parent. The government received about 23,000 hardship applications in 2011 and more than 70 percent were approved, the official said.

Applications for the waiver can take as long as six months to be acted upon, the official said. The new rule is expected to reduce that processing time to just days or weeks, the official added.

"This would streamline the process (and) reduce the time of separation between family members," the official said.

The proposal will be published in the Federal Register on Friday. The official said the administration hopes to change the rule later this year.
Immigration has become a difficult issue for Obama ahead of the November election. As a presidential candidate, he pledged to change what many consider to be a broken immigration system.

To that end, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced plans last year to review some 300,000 pending deportation cases in an effort to target criminal illegal immigrants, repeat immigration law violators and those who pose a national security or public safety threat. Napolitano said the DHS would delay indefinitely the cases of many illegal immigrants who have no criminal record and those who have been arrested for only minor traffic violations or other misdemeanors.

A pilot program to review about 12,000 cases pending in immigration court in Baltimore and Denver was launched in November and ends next week. The review is expected to expand to other jurisdictions later this year.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton also issued a memo in June outlining how immigration authorities could use discretion in deciding which illegal immigrants to arrest and put into deportation proceedings. Morton wrote in the memo that discretion could be used in a variety of cases, including for people with no criminal record and young people brought to the country illegally as children.

Congressional Republicans have decried the policy changes, arguing that the Obama administration is circumventing Congress to essentially provide amnesty to countless illegal immigrants.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, has been among the most vocal critics and has accused Obama repeatedly of not enforcing immigration law.

Several attempts at an immigration law overhaul have failed in recent years, including the so-called DREAM Act, which would have allowed for some young illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to earn legal status if they went to college or joined the military.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...e04a9fefc169dd

Obama
don't the American Have some say In this ? I say no they should all be ship out Obama you are another one what part
don't you understand ?
me well Im for one want all of the illegal immgrants the hell out no only mexico all of the Other country out
to me you look very worry about the vote . if you are going to be in the wh again I sure in hell hope not
If fact the American are going to fight you on this one . why you have our Country In one hell Of a hole
& every time i see you . you walk around . with a big smile On your face like . every thing going well
well thinkl a look again it not
well I say this again ship all of your illegal immigrants friends all the hell back home . Not only mexico
all of the other country also
no amnesty or Dream act

rightwingnews.com
Written By : William Teach
Jan. 06, 2012

Obviously, anything so tiresome as dealing with the elected representatives of the American people is just too much for Mr. Hope And Change

(Fox News Latino) A senior member of the Obama administration said Thursday that the administration plans to change a rule to reduce the time the spouses and children of undocumented immigrants are separated from citizen relatives while they try to win legal status in the United States


Currently, undocumented immigrants must leave the country before they can ask the government to waive a three- to 10-year ban on legally coming back to the U.S. The length of the ban depends on how long they have lived in the U.S. without permission.


The official said the new rule would let children and spouses of citizens ask the government to decide on the waiver request before the undocumented immigrant heads to his or her home country to apply for a visa. The undocumented immigrants still must go home to finish the visa process to come back to the U.S., but getting the waiver ahead of time could reduce the time an undocumented immigrant is out of the country.


The waiver shift is the latest move by President Barack Obama to make changes to immigration policy without congressional action. Congressional Republicans repeatedly have criticized the administration for policy changes they describe as providing “backdoor amnesty” to undocumented immigrants.

It’s not so much Obama showing a clear lack of respect for the People’s House, ie, Congress, as it is 1) Obama attempting to create political issues with which to fight the GOP, and 2), and more importantly, the fact that Obama has never been a real leader, has no skills as a leader, and becomes petulant and therefore unwilling to do the hard work necessary to reach across the aisle and make accommodations with the opposition Party, who represent specific parts of the United States as laid out by the Constitution. Every other president has had to do this, and has worked, or at least attempted to work, with the opposition party. That’s too difficult for Emperor Obama. Funny how he keeps calling himself a “Constitutional Professor”: who’s constitution, Venezuela’s? Iran’s?

That said, if the GOP plays their cards right (sometimes a big “if”), they can use Obama’s unilateral extension of unchecked power grabs against him during the General Election, and perhaps tie it in to the Congressional Democrats. Perhaps some videos of Democrats complaining about Bush unilaterally taking on new powers juxtaposed with Obama actually doing just that.

http://rightwingnews.com/immigration...hout-congress/

politico.com
By TIM MAK
1/6/12 6:43 AM EST


The move could boost Obama’s standing with Hispanic voters. | AP Photo

The Obama administration will propose a new rule Friday that will allow certain illegal immigrants to remain in the United States while applying for legal residency, according to reports.


Currently, those living illegally in the U.S. are required to leave the country in order to apply for a green card, even if they are married to or are children of American citizens, and they are often barred from returning for up to 10 years, the New York Times and the L.A. Times reported.

The Obama administration’s proposal, which would not require congressional approval, would allow certain illegal immigrants to file for a hardship waiver and stay in the country with their families while their requests are being adjudicated.

The move could boost Obama’s standing with Hispanic voters, the L.A. Times notes.

Since in office, President Obama has also instructed immigration authorities to prioritize the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants over those of undocumented immigrations who pose no threat to national security and public safety.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories...#ixzz1ihMmrVph

dc50tv.com
By Peter Nicholas
1:12 a.m. EST, January 6, 2012


Rigo Barboza, an undocumented student, protests President Obama's immigration policies outside the Fig & Olive restaurant in West Hollywood in September.

Reporting from Washington—
The Obama administration will announce Friday a proposed new regulation that would allow certain undocumented immigrants to remain in America while applying for legal status -- a step aimed at keeping families intact and one that may also shore up the president's support with Latino voters.

As it stands, people living in the U.S. illegally who leave the country to apply for a green card face years of separation from family members.

Depending on how long they've lived in America, once they leave they are barred from returning for up to 10 years.

They can claim that their absence would pose a hardship for their spouse or parent and ask the Department of Homeland Security to waive the re-entry restrictions.

But to do that, they must first travel to a consular office abroad and begin a process that can take months or even years, experts say.

Most waiver applications are filed in Ciudad Juarez on the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the Immigration Policy Center. A State Department travel advisory issued last year said the murder rate in Ciudad Juarez was the highest in Mexico. It urged people to "defer non-essential travel" to that city.

Under the proposed rule, which would not require action by Congress, people would be allowed to file requests for hardship waivers in the United States, according to a person familiar with the administration's plans. They wouldn't need to go abroad, and thus could stay with their families while their requests were adjudicated.

The proposal comes at a moment when President Obama is making greater use of executive power to overcome congressional resistance to his policy goals.

Obama has called for an overhaul of the immigration system that would provide a path to legal status for the 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. But even when the House and Senate were both in Democratic hands, he could not muster the votes needed to pass that plan. The prospects are even weaker now that the House is under Republican control.

So Obama is attempting unilateral steps meant to bring about what he sees as an immigration system that is fairer and less destructive to families.

The proposal is likely to win plaudits from a crucial constituency in the 2012 election: Latinos.

Obama won two-thirds of the Latino vote in 2008, and he needs this fast-growing constituency energized and excited about his reelection.

http://www.dc50tv.com/news/nationwor...,7678138.story

Originally Posted by Ratbstard

It’s not so much Obama showing a clear lack of respect for the People’s House, ie, Congress, as it is 1) Obama attempting to create political issues with which to fight the GOP, and 2), and more importantly, the fact that Obama has never been a real leader, has no skills as a leader, and becomes petulant and therefore unwilling to do the hard work necessary to reach across the aisle and make accommodations with the opposition Party, who represent specific parts of the United States as laid out by the Constitution.
http://rightwingnews.com/immigration...hout-congress/

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In this election year, ALL politicians are pulling out all stops to cater to the Mexican vote. They know without it they cannot win, and unless Americans sober up to this fact and galvanize against it, Obama still has a good chance for reelection, barring some incredible blunder that he disenfranchises the Mexican or liberal vote.

RELATED


Prediction: Obama Will Savage Romney


The 2012 Latino vote (not going to be Republican)
http://www.alipac.us/threads/244851-The-2012-Latino-vote-(not-going-to-be-Republican)

(VIDEO AT SOURCE)

But guess what: No way will any of us vote for the Republicans in 2012.

Friday, January 6, 2012

USCIS Proposes Regulatory Change to Decrease the Time U.S. Citizens are Separated from Family Members who are Legally Immigrating to the U.S.

Posted by Alejandro Mayorkas, Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (en español/Spanish version)

Underscoring the Obama Administration’s commitment to family unity and administrative efficiency, this morning U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services posted a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register to begin a regulatory change that would reduce the amount of time that U.S. citizens are separated from their families while their family members go through the process of becoming legal residents of the United States.

Currently, children and spouses of U.S. citizens who have accrued a certain period of unlawful presence in the U.S., and have to leave the country in order to become a legal permanent resident of the U.S., are barred from returning to their families for as long as 3 or 10 years. They can receive a waiver to allow them to return to their families before that period by showing that their U.S. citizen family member would face extreme hardship as a result of the separation. But under current procedures, in order to obtain the waiver, these individuals must apply from outside the United States after they have been found inadmissible by a Department of State consular officer. This process can be lengthy and discourages individuals who are currently eligible for this waiver from applying. To address this problem, the USCIS proposal would allow eligible immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to apply for and receive "provisional waivers" of unlawful presence before they leave the United States for consular processing of their immigrant visa applications, significantly reducing the time U.S. citizens are separated from their spouses, or children.

Not only will this proposal further the Administration’s commitment to family unity, but the change would improve government efficiency by increasing the predictability and consistency of the application process.

More details regarding the proposed process change will be outlined in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, tentatively scheduled to be published this spring and, which will be open for public comment. While we’re still in the beginning stages of the rulemaking process, we’ve posted some initial questions and answers on USCIS.gov to provide additional information. USCIS has also scheduled a teleconference listening session on January 10th at 2PM. To RSVP for the teleconference, please visit www.uscis.gov/outreach.

To learn more about the federal rulemaking process, visit the Department of Homeland Security’s Rulemaking 101. For more information on our website, see our fact sheet.

Posted by Homeland Security Blog Team at 1:14 PM

http://blog.dhs.gov/2012/01/uscis-pr...change-to.html

Yup, and the Republicans are going to sit on their hands and let Obama get away with this. I don't know about you guys, but Monday I am going to raise Holy hell with my Republican Congressmen and tell these gutless wonders to get off their butts and start protecting the laws of this country and to stop letting Obama steam roll them.

Who's going to help me?

Also, it wouldn't hurt to notify the media. I have been watching Fox News most of the day and I haven't even heard a whisper about this.