{UAH} Obama’s New Rules on Immigration Could Benefit Baganda Immigrants

Obama's New Rules on Immigration Could Benefit Baganda Immigrants

• Nov 23, 2014
• Staff

On November 20, 2014, President Barack Obama of the United States announced that he would sign an Executive Order reforming the way his administration enforces immigration law. The Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will no longer arrest and deport immigrants present in the country illegally, if they have resided continuously in the U.S. for five years and are parents of children who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Obama's Executive Order is not an amnesty. It does not give the applicant a green card or permanent residence, or a path to citizenship. It is only "deferred action," meaning that it stops ICE from arresting and deporting the beneficiaries over the next two years.

After the 2016 elections, the next president will not be bound by Obama's Executive Order. If that president does not extend these benefits, ICE will have the power to arrest and deport the beneficiaries of Obama's action.

All presidents since Ronald W. Reagan have issued executive orders for immigration law enforcement that were limited in scope. Although it is hard to predict what will happen in the future, none of those past executive orders were reversed.

It is not yet clear how those immigrants with deportation orders that are final but are in the appeal process will be treated under this Executive Order. However, those who are not qualified but apply anyway risk prosecution and being referred to ICE for deportation proceedings.

This Executive Order is expected to benefit approximately 4.4 million undocumented immigrants. Those in the know project that Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) will probably be ready to take applications sometime in spring 2015. Although Republicans in Congress are opposed to this Executive Order, there is little they can do to stop it. For instance, they cannot withhold funding, because CIS relies on application fees to fund its operations.

At this time, no information is available yet on fees and related details.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower

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