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Damian Dovarganes / AP
David Buenrostro, Adrian James, and Jahel Ramos protest outside the Obama campaign offices in Culver City, Calif., Thursday, June 14, 2012.
While some illegal immigrants and their advocates heralded the Obama administration’s announcement Friday that it would no longer seek the deportation of most undocumented youth, others expressed skepticism, saying it was a grab for Latino votes and wouldn’t make a big difference.
“We’ve been hearing for a long time that this administration is supportive of undocumented youth, he supports the Dream Act, always says it. But at the same time, we’re literally fighting deportation case after deportation case,” said Mohammad Abdollahi, one of the founders of National Immigrant Youth Alliance. Abdollahi said he was “very skeptical” of the announcement and didn’t “buy it at all.”
Abdollahi spoke with msnbc.com from the Obama campaign office in Dearborn, Mich., which he says he and other protesters had shut down recently in an effort to force Obama’s hand on the issue. Young illegal immigrants also have been occupying such offices in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the California cities of Oakland and Los Angeles.
Noting that they believed last year’s guidance to give prosecutorial discretion in deportation cases wasn’t helping illegal immigrants, Abdollahi said the new guidelines outlined in the government memorandum released Friday would not provide categorical relief for Dream Act-eligible youth and would be applied on a "case-by-case basis" by local offices who were "very set on deporting each and every one of us."
“If this administration wants to tokenize us, then give us something for it,” he said. “It’s just ridiculous that we have to get deported and he is still winning his Latino vote.”
Obama administration won't seek deportation of young illegal immigrants
The Department of Homeland Security announced that effective immediately the government would no longer seek the deportation of illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and would allow them to apply for work permits if they meet certain criteria.
A senior administration official said in a conference call with reporters that as many as 800,000 undocumented immigrants stand to benefit from this change. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the shift represented neither immunity nor amnesty -- buzzwords for conservatives who oppose illegal immigration -- but instead represented an instance of "prosecutorial discretion" in which the government had re-evaluated its priorities in enforcing the law.
The announcement represented a major policy shift, and its political implications will be significant.
Cesar Vargas, who started DRM Capitol Group, LLC, to advocate for people in his position -- he illegally entered the country from Mexico when he was 5 years old -- welcomed Obama’s announcement: “We’re speechless.”
“A lot of the work that dreamers have been doing … it’s showing fruit, so we’re a little bit shocked, a little surprised and definitely excited,” said Vargas, 28.
But he also noted that while it was great that young illegal immigrants were no longer being targeted for deportation, he wanted to make sure it wasn’t just a “political announcement.” He said the White House had called his group and “assured us that it’s a very meaningful process that’s going to be set up.”
“Hopefully, he is serious and I think it’s great, but right now we are going to continue all our campaigns,” he added. “Obviously, he is giving us a reason to fight for him so we’re going to continue our pressure on Mitt Romney 110 percent right now … he (Obama) took a chance with us, you know, we’re going to stand by him.”
Obama immigration order poses dilemma for eligible illegal immigrants
The shift essentially accomplishes many of the legislative intentions of the DREAM Act, an immigration reform bill that had stalled in Congress due to Republican objections. President Obama favors the legislation, while presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has said he would veto that law.
In the memorandum to immigration enforcement officials, the government said it would not pursue immigrants who met five criteria: those who came to the United States under the age of 16, are no older than 30, are currently enrolled in school, have graduated high school or served in the military, have been in the country for five continuous years, and have a clean criminal record.
For Yelky Ramos, a 20-year-old recent college graduate who came from the Dominican Republic when she was 13, the change means she should be able to get a job. That will provide "great relief" to others like her, who have finished university, and provide an incentive to youth in high school, she said.
“We just hope that the way they’re going to implement it is going to be fair to the undocumented youth and it won’t be a trap in which people will be applying for this type of deferral and then find themselves … (in) legal proceedings that might lead to deportation,” she said.
The change won’t have an immediate impact on her parents since, who don’t have any status in the United States and are planning to return to the Dominican Republic.
“They know that immigration reform is very far from happening here in the United States with this political arena,” she said.
Chung-wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, called the move an “amazing,” “historic” victory and said it would "lend huge momentum" to fixing the immigration system.
“ … it’ll change the fundamental direction of where our country is going,” she added. “Now, we’re going towards the kind of reforms that will … really affect the lives and the futures of so many more people.”
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
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I have a dream too. I am a born US citizen. But I pay more percentage in taxes than Obama. This really hurt us this year. I am not sure if our business will survive between customers not paying and the government took the money that we could have gotten by on until we got back on our feet.
So why are these illegals dreams more important than my dream?
Hey, if you can't get your receivables in order don't blame everybody else. Why do you people keep blaming others for your failures? You only have yourself to blame, not the President or anybody else. What makes you think you pay more the President Obama? If so your accountant is an idiot.
Price
You're the idiot. You and you taker dem buddies claim buffet's secretary pays a higher tax rate than buffet.
Your the fricking idiot.
Why do you and liberal scum like you hate the working business man. Is it because he's bustin butt without the help of unions.
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there goes white and black people's future,these mexicans only care about themseleves,they will bring the stinking mexican flags over here and wave them along with their beers and babies,but that's okay because whites will have a p[lan,and it won't be pretty beaners !
Obama
Yo Mama
Hell No
You gots to GO!
It is very interesting to talk to normal people here who happen to be black. They have a very common sense attitude towards Obama, not like the rabid left. They have not prospered under Obama as they are middle class. Obama has embarrassed them on policy time and time again as they are Christian. One admitted to me that if Obama did somehow win a 2nd term one or two things would surely happen: One there will NEVER be another black president in the next 100 years because of what all Obama has stirred up. Two whites are going to be so angry at what Obama is doing to this country that they are going to take it out on all black folks because they cannot get to him. Obama has not been what they had hoped the lst Black president would be for sure. Expect a much lower middle class black turnout for Obama this trip.
I hate illegal aliens whether they are young or old, if they don't wanna leave we should napalm them all, not just mexicans. I don't have a good paying job, I make barely enough to feed myself much less my family and rich contractors hire illegals by the dozen paying them twice what I make. The majority of that money leaves the economy. So not only do i not get the job but they are leeching off the job that i do have.
Hurray Obama, Thanks for everything lets open the gates so more can come over and take US jobs and send our money back across the border where it should be circulated here and thanks by allowing them to stay we can hire more police to help keep there gangs and drug cartels in line and also I'm sure all the Hospital that are going broke because of the free medical they provide to them but not Americans also want to thank you, And the thought of these people, thinking if you deported these 17 million illegals back where they came from that the job market would open up, " Silly People" Anyway good job on @!$%#ing this country up even more.. God bless!
It is to bad that the tax paying people can't vote on this because we are going to be the ones paying for it, just like we have been. Hopefully this will be the end of obama. He might be doing this because he isn't a citizen himself. We are way to soft in this country, we have to make a few examples out of some of these illegals to show them we are serious. This plan by obama does the opposite. We really need to take care of our own people, especially the ones on welfare who smoke and talk on their cell phones. These illegals will be taking jobs away from the welfare candidates that should be forced into these jobs to contribute something to society, other than more children.
Can you say YOB?
PAZ, por favor! Este Estados Unidos tienen suficiente por todos nosotros. Solo la problema es con El Congreso de Estados Unidos. Si limpia la casas del Congreso entonces todos medios, pobres, y otros ganan mas dinero y mas derechos. Horita que muchos no entienden es todos nosotros son esclavos!
Obama was on CNN (earlier today) blaming congress for the stalemate on a bill concerning the interest rate on student loans. He bypassed congress on illegal immigration, so why can't he bypass congress, when it come to student loans? Can anyone answer this?
no more shortcuts!! If you can not go the legal route (which CAN be done) then your just promoting generation after generation of illegal activity! I married a man from New Zealand in 2009 and we did all the paperwork, which was a hassle, but so is anything worth having.
I have a dream too....not for amnesty or amnesty like plans...but how about legal immigration!! I can be done !!
sorry, it's been brought to my attention...I've been HAPPILY Married...since 2002...lol
The Democrats do not care about minority groups. All they want is a voting base and legalized slavery.
Rationalthinker - You are so right on! The demorats have screwed up this country and under the so-called leadership of the liar-in-chief has set our country back for many years. They ingnore the fact Obama was mentored by radicals and his friends were terrorists like Ayers and communists like Frank Marshall Davis. Obama has a plan to destroy our country and make it weak. Of course the left never gets the message because they are out of touch with reality. It is time for us to take back our country and put people to work!