According to The New York Times, the Obama administration plans to begin the implementation of long-promised relief from deportation for some “low-priority” immigrants.  The pilot projects will begin in early December in Baltimore and Denver, and will test the case-by-case review process outlined by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in instructions released in June and August of this year.

 Immigrant advocates have campaigned for changes to deportation practices for the past several years, and have been frustrated with the delay in implementing the new policy.  Local leaders welcomed the news of concrete changes.

 “Starting the process to bring real deportation relief to immigrant families who have committed no crimes is a major step in the right direction.  The administration has certainly said all the right things about immigration reform, but taken little action.  If these pilot projects in Denver and Baltimore go well, the President will have made some real progress toward keeping his promises,” said the Director of AIR Ryan Bates.

 The need for deportation relief was especially urgent in light of the record 400,000 immigrants deported in the last year by the Obama administration, most of them non-criminals.  The American Immigration Lawyers Association underlined the need for strong action this week with a report revealing that almost none of the country’s ICE offices were actually following the new guidance issued by the administration. 

On Nov. 17, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin to review the 300,000 deportation cases currently pending. 

ICE also issued additional guidelines to its prosecuting lawyers and will begin a nationwide training program for ICE personnel.  The DHS review aims to prioritize the deportation of immigrants who pose a threat to public safety or national security and prioritize the deportation proceedings of immigrants with compelling factors as outlined in ICE’s June 17 prosecutorial discretion memo. 

The following is a statement by Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum. “We welcome the launch of the administration’s long-promised review designed to reduce the backlog of deportation cases and prioritize resources.  In this time of great concern about our nation’s fiscal health, it makes sense to focus valuable law enforcement resources on the deportation of individuals who are genuine threats to public and  national safety.”