The Obama administration announced yesterday that it will undertake a case-by-case review of the roughly 300,000 undocumented immigrants who are facing possible deportation. Under the new policy, undocumented immigrants who don’t have criminal records but are facing deportation will get to stay in the US indefinitely and have a chance to apply for a work permit.
A statement on the decision by Long Island Wins Director Maryann Sinclair Slutsky:
The decision by the Obama administration to halt deportations of some undocumented immigrants is a tremendous step in the right direction. With this action by the president, we’ve begun to inject some sanity into the immigration debate, which, here on Long Island, has been too often poisoned by intentionally divisive words and policies.
We will now be able to more fully welcome immigrants into our communities in Nassau and Suffolk, and at the same, maximize their social, cultural, and economic contributions.
As this process moves forward, we should all follow the actions of the Obama administration with a watchful and critical eye, but we laud the president for using his power to institute common-sense policy in an era when congressional leaders seemed mired in self-interest and inaction.
Image courtesy of j valas images via Flickr.
