Obama reacts to immigration struggle

President Barack Obama made a significant announcement about immigration policy on June 15.

Obama announced that he had signed a deferred deportation act that could allow tens of thousands of undocumented youth to remain in the U.S. without fear of deportation and grant them the right to apply for work permits. The policy could provide relief from deportation for approximately 800,000 young immigrants.

According to a Department of Homeland Security fact sheet, in order to be eligible for deferred action from deportation, individuals must:

• Have come to the U.S. before the age of 16;

• Have resided continuously in the U.S. prior to June 15 and be present in the U.S. on this date;

• Currently be in school, have graduated from high school, have a GED certificate or have been honorably discharged from the Coast Guard or U.S. armed forces;

• Have not been convicted of “a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offense, multiple misdemeanor offenses, or otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety”; and

• Not be above the age of 30.

What led to this announcement?

Obama’s action was a result of the struggle of the Dreamers, the thousands of undocumented youth who have for more than 10 years been organizing to get the DREAM Act passed. This piece of federal legislation would provide legalization for children who had come to the U.S. before they were 15 and met other criteria.

The Dreamers have boldly and bravely come out as “undocumented and unafraid.” They have held rallies and demonstrations, participated in sit-ins and chained themselves to offices, held mock graduation ceremonies, and made great sacrifices to get the attention of the government as well as the immigrant rights movement.

Although Obama’s announcement brought instant reaction from the right wing about granting “amnesty” to the undocumented, immigrant rights activists were cautious about the announcement.

Many pointed out that other announcements favorable to the undocumented, such as last year’s statement about the use of “prosecutorial discretion,” have not really been implemented. In fact, immigrant groups say that only about 1 percent of cases were closed as a result of such discretion.

And it is an election year. Many are quick to question the motives behind the announcement.

The New York State Youth Leadership Council declared in a press release: “Until Obama signs an actual executive order promptly halting the deportation of all undocumented youth, youth across the nation will continue to occupy offices demanding that President Obama sign the order. The Prosecutorial Discretion recommendation unfortunately served as a huge disappointment to us. For too long, undocumented youth have served as pawns in partisan political games.” (nysylc.org, June 15)

The right wing, Glenn Beck and many Republicans immediately used President Obama’s announcement to ratchet up the anti-immigrant rhetoric. During the news conference where Obama made his announcement, a conservative blogger was allowed to heckle Obama, shouting, “What about jobs for Americans?”

This is the ultimate hypocrisy, as the far-right is using the dire unemployment crisis as a demagogic excuse to divide workers. Despite the right-wing rhetoric, Obama’s announcement does not mean legalization for the 800,000 young people who could be affected.

A statement issued by the May 1 Coalition for Worker & Immigrant Rights of New York reads: “The over 14 million undocumented people in this country have earned legalization. It is U.S. foreign and economic policy to begin with that is the main cause of forced migration from Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. And this announcement comes as we await the outcome of the Supreme Court ruling on Arizona’s SB1070, which is racial profiling on steroids. A favorable ruling [for the undocumented] is not expected; that decision would result in driving the undocumented further underground open to more extreme exploitation such as massive wage theft.”

The statement continues: “The president’s announcement also comes as the militarization of the U.S./Mexican border continues, resulting in more deaths at the border. And our youth continue to be targeted, including deaths such as that of Trayvon Martin and Anastacio Hernandez-Reyes.” (To get a copy of the statement or to find out more about the coalition, visit may1.info.)

The slogan “Si se puede” (Yes, we can) became a national rallying cry in 2006 as a result of the massive upsurge of immigrants marching for their rights. “Si se puede” continues to be a demand today. It should be matched with “The struggle continues” (La lucha continua) as immigrants and their supporters are determined to win not only legalization for all the undocumented, but all workers’ rights — not just for the youth looking to get into college, but also for every day laborer, domestic worker or construction worker around the country. Clearly a massive people’s power movement that unites all workers in a fight for their lives is urgently needed.

Gutierrez is the co-coordinator of the May 1 Coalition for Worker
& Immigrant Rights of New York.