CANTON — A recent announcement by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has caused some in the local immigrant community to become confused as to the net effects on their own situations. 

It’s hard for me to believe there will be a strong, expedited process regarding this matter; my experience and intuition tells me it’s not likely to happen as it never has been in the past. Nabih Ayad

Canton attorney Nabih Ayad, who specializes in immigration cases, said that he has received numerous inquiries about the announcement, which he said ultimately doesn’t amount to many changes for the average immigrant family in the area. 

“I can understand where the confusion lies because from day one President Barack Obama has been promising a comprehensive immigration reform bill and I do think that if he will get re-elected he will make that a priority,” he said.

“But for now, the Arab American community and other immigrant communities are hoping and praying for some sort of comprehensive reform so they sometimes get a false hope and immediately take it to heart thinking about the effects each new announcement could possibly have on them.” 

According to the DHS, the department will begin reviewing all 300,000 pending deportation/removal cases in federal immigration courts to determine which individuals meet specific criteria for removal and to focus on the agency’s “highest priorities.” The department also said it is focused on going through cases with the goal of removing persons who are the most dangerous to the country and have criminal backgrounds. 

Ayad said that focusing on removing criminals first has always been the policy according to his understanding as well. He added that he’d like to see the department clarify specifically what types of criminals they are focusing on removing. 

“I think it’s very important that immigration sets down details and an outline of which is a priority, obviously you want to go after the violent criminals rather than someone who has been arrested for marijuana use for example,” he said. 

DHS also announced that people who were not high priority targets for removal would have the opportunity to request prosecutorial discretion on a case by case basis.  Low priority cases include those who are not criminals and have been in the country since childhood, have strong community ties, are veterans or relatives of persons in the armed services, are caregivers, have serious health issues, are victims of crime or otherwise have a strong basis for remaining in the United States.  

Ayad said the latter announcement isn’t likely to change much, however. 

“You could always request such discretion on non-priority cases…this simply puts out more of an aggressive agenda to focus on cases even more so,” he said. 

“This could help (immigration enforcement) by enlarging and providing greater avenue for relief than in the past, but I don’t think it will have a large effect on much of the general immigration population and especially not on the Arab community.” 

Some with legitimate immigration cases hoping to have their personal cases reviewed have wondered whether theirs would be expedited or not but Ayad said it is not likely, as he has advised some clients.

“It’s hard for me to believe there will be a strong, expedited process regarding this matter; my experience and intuition tells me it’s not likely to happen as it never has been in the past.” 

The announcement does not create any new immigration laws as some have thought. 

“I think they’re making this statement because of their strong, aggressive actions taken in a number of years has put them in this corner,” Ayad said. “The budget and the money that they have to pay to hold and facilitate being removed from the U.S. has essentially (badly hurt) their budget and caused them to reconsider their position of being so aggressive against (the general population of) immigrants,” Ayad said, noting that many have been put in jail with hardened criminals because of immigration violations. 

“Really in essence this is a situation that immigration (enforcement) has to shoulder because there aren’t enough beds to house (all of the immigrants they’ve been going after).”  

Ayad said that he would like to see another statement to clarify the announcement further and also, of course, comprehensive reform for the immigration system that lays out a clear path to citizenship. 

“I would hope that the Janet Napolitano of the DHS basically comes to a detailed statement as to who is actually eligible and who is not,” he said in regards to the recent announcement.