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June 20, 2012
Page 5
Young people cheer President Barack Obama's immigration announcement outside the White House in Washington, D.C. (AP photo)
Obama Enacts Partial ‘DREAM Act’
Sparing young
people from
deportation
(AP) - President Barack Obama
eased enforcement of immigration
laws Friday, offering a chance for
hundreds of thousands of illegal
immigrants to stay in the country
and work. Immediately embraced by
Hispanics, the extraordinary step
touched off an election-year con
frontation with congressional Re
publicans.
"Let's be clear, this is not am
nesty, this is not immunity, this is
not a path to citizenship, this is not
a permanent fix," Obama said from
the W hite House Rose Garden.
"This is the right thing to do."
The policy change will affect as
many as 800,000 immigrants who
have lived in fear of deportation. It
bypasses Congress and partially
achieves the goals of the "DREAM
Act," congressional legislation that
would establish a path toward citi
zenship for young people who came
to the United States illegally but
who attend college or join the mili
tary.
Under the administration plan,
illegal immigrants will be immune
from deportation if they were
brought to the United States before
they turned 16 and are younger than
30, have been in the country for at
least five continuous years, have
no criminal history, graduated from
a U.S. high school or earned a GED
or served in the military. They also
can apply for a work permit that will
be good for two years with no limits
on how many times it can be re
newed.
Obama said the change would
become effective immediately to "lift
the shadow of deportation from
these young people."
The policy will not lead toward
citizenship but will remove the threat
of deportation and grant the ability
to work legally, leaving eligible im
migrants able to remain in the United
States for extended periods.
The move comes in an election
year in which the Hispanic vote
could be critical in swing states
like Colorado, Nevada and Florida.
While Obama enjoys support from
a m ajority o f Hispanic voters,
Latino enthusiasm for the presi
dent has been tem pered by the
slow econom ic recovery, his in
ability to win congressional sup
port for a broad overhaul of im m i
g ra tio n la w s an d by h is
adm inistration's aggressive de
portation policy.
The administration announce
ment comes ahead of an expected
S uprem e C o u rt d ecisio n on
Arizona's tough 2010 immigration
law that, among other things, re
quires police to ask for immigration
papers from anyone they stop or
arrest and suspect is in the country
illegally. The Obama administration
has challenged the law.
The change also comes a year
after the administration announced
plans to focus on deporting serious
criminals, immigrants who pose
threats to public safety and national
security, and serious immigration
law violators.
U nder the plan, im m igrants
whose deportation cases are pend
ing in immigration court will have to
prove their eligibility for a reprieve
TriMet Fills Shortfall
c o n t i n u e d f r o m front
a disproportionate impact on disad
vantaged and minority populations.
As part of that effort, the agency is
developing a $ 1 million program to
mitigate fares for low income resi
dents who ask for assistance from
public service agencies and non
profits.
One of the upcoming changes in
services accomplishes a TriMet goal
of making the fare system easier to
understand by creating a flat fare for
all rides. The move brings in an
additional $6 million in revenue.
The zone system was created 30-
years-ago in an attempt to charge
more for trips that usually begin in
the suburbs and end downtown,
while keeping fares lower for minor
ity and low-income riders who lived
in the central city.
Overtime, however, the way resi
dents used transportation morphed
as travel patterns and neighborhood
demographics shifted.
The adult fare increase is 10 cents
from the current all-zone fare, and 40
cents more than the current 2-zone
fare.
The creation of a round trip all day
pass will cost a rider the same as the
current day pass, which is $5. Hon
ored Citizen fares, however, will not
change, and there will be additional
LIFT services will be provided.
There will also be an elimination
of the Free Rail Zone for Downtown
Portland and the Lloyd District,
which will result in $2.7 million in
savings.
to ICE, which will begin dealing with
such cases in 60 days. Any immi
grant who already has a deportation
order and those who never have
been encountered by immigration
authorities will deal with the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Ser
vices.
The exact details of how the pro
gram will work, including how much
immigrants will have to pay to apply
and what proofihey will need, still
are being worked out.
In making it harder to deport, the
Obama administration is in essence
employing the same eligibility re
quirements spelled out in the pro
posed DREAM Act.
Illegal immigrant children won't
be eligible to apply for the deporta
tion waiver until they turn 16, but
the officials said younger children
won't be deported, either.
Haglund, Kelley,
Jones & Wilder llp
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Jim Francesconi
503-225-0777
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