Portland observer., November 19, 2014, Page 5, Image 5

November 19, 2014
fiorila nò (Observer
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Immigration on the Table
Obama plans executive actions
(A P )— President B arack O bam a
is poised to act soon to unveil a
series o f executive actions on im m i­
g ratio n that w ill shield possib ly
around 5 million im m igrants living in
the U .S. illegally from deportation,
according to adv o cates in touch
w ith the W hite H ouse.
T he estim ate includes extending
deportation protections to parents
and spouses o f U.S. citizens and
perm anent residents w ho have been
in the country fo r som e years. T he President Obama looks to
president is also likely to expand his shield immigrants living in the
2-year-old program that protects U.S. illegally from deportation.
young im m igrants from deportation. licans w arned that such a push could
T im ing o f the announcem en t is result in an o th er governm ent sh u t­
unclear, though it's expected before dow n like the one last y ear over
the end o f the year.
O bam a's health care plan.
C ongressional R epublicans are
T he advocates, w ho spoke on
strongly opposed to O bam a's plans, co ndition o f anonym ity ahead o f a
and as law m akers returned to C ap i­ public announcem ent, said that fi­
tol H ill this w eek follow ing last nal details o f the plan rem ained in
w eek's elections in w hich the R e­ flux. But the W hite H ouse is likely to
publicans retook control o f the S en ­ include parents and spouses o f U.S.
ate, they vow ed to oppose him .
citizens and perm anent residents,
"W e’re going to fight the p re si­ stipulating that they've resided in
dent tooth and nail if he continues the U.S. for som e period o f tim e —
dow n this path. T his is the w rong possibly as little as five years. T hat
w ay to govern. T his is exactly w hat g ro u p to tals aro u n d 3.8 m illio n
the A m erican people said on E lec­ people, according to the M igration
tion D ay they d idn't w ant," H ouse Policy Institute.
S peaker John B oehner, a R ep u b li­
A lthough O bam a is not able to
can, said T hursday.
grant citizen sh ip or p erm an en t resi­
Som e conservatives in the H ouse d en t green cards on his ow n w ith ­
an d S en ate a n n o u n c e d p lan s to out C ongress, he can o ffer tem p o ­
push fo r la n g u ag e in m u st-p a ss rary p ro tectio n from d ep o rtatio n
spending bills to b lo ck the p resi­ along w ith w ork authorization, as he
dent from acting. B ut o th er R epub- has done in the past.
Uphill Battle Ahead
c o n t i n u e d f r o m front
T h e benefits a good public tran ­
sit system , for exam ple, one that
reaches all parts o f the m etro area,
“distinguishes this tow n from other,
sim ilar sized c itie s,” he says.
B ut as higher prices for housing
and a influx o f new residents w ith
higher incom es push disadvantaged
people further and further out, “W e
have a lot o f w ork to d o ,” he notes,
“and the biggest challenge is going
to be how to best use our resources.”
B uonocore stressed a hope for
p re se rv in g h o u sin g th at alre ad y
exists, on top o f a goal o f c reatin g
m ore affordable housing.
A s in n e r north and n o rth e a st
P ortland continue to gentrify, rap ­
idly rising rental rates and housing
costs are m aking access to this c o m ­
m unity m ore and m ore difficult.
H om e Forw ard uses a co m b in a­
tion o f strategies to increase access
to housing.
B uonocore said efforts to raise
w ages for low er incom e earners, for
exam ple, is part o f the realization
that a lot o f social ju stic e w ork starts
internally.
Earlier this m onth. Hom e Forward
raised its starting w age to $15 an
hour, in hopes that every e m ployee
o f the organization will m ake a living
w age.
T he agency also is led by a new
m ission statem ent calling fo r “A
Home for Everyone." T he goal is
m ake innovative partnerships to end
hom elessness and follow up on a
10-year plan to end h om elessness.
Since 2005, 12,511 total p la ce ­
m ents o f hom eless households into
perm anent hom es in the P ortland
area have been m ade. O f this total,
approxim ately 40 percent w ere fam i­
lies, 23 percent w ere ch ro n ically
hom eless individuals and 21 p er­
cent w ere survivors o f dom estic
violence. A survey o f those helped
through these efforts found that 84
p ercent w ere still in stable housing
12 m onths after placem ent.
T he program still has a long w ay
to gp, but p rogress has definitely
been m ade.
B u o n o c o r e , w h o c o m p e te d
against a nationw ide search for a p ­
plicants for his position, says this is
his dream jo b .
“ I'm happy to be here, and I can
only hope to learn and to get people
stabilized in this ongoing w ork,” he
say s.
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Merchant Botÿhs
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333 NE Russell St., #200, Portland, OR. 97212
(503) 284-7838
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