DEARBORN — Last week, President Obama signed an executive order that would spare about 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and allow them to live and work legally in the United States for at least three years. However, the presidential action does not guarantee a path to citizenship and will not affect most of the country’s 11 million unauthorized immigrants.

Immigration advocates hailed the executive order as a major victory for their camp, but stressed that it is temporary and incomplete, urging Congress to pass a bill that would ensure comprehensive reform.

The executive order that Obama signed on Nov. 21 allows unauthorized immigrants who have been in the United States since Jan. 1, 2010 and have a child who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to obtain an exemption from deportation and a work permit after passing a criminal background check. The exemption is good for three years, but can be renewed. 

The order also expands Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which gives undocumented immigrants who came to the United States under the age of 16 before June 2007 temporary relief. Obama’s action stretches the act to include those who came here before Jan. 1, 2010 and expands the relief period from two to three years.

An Arab American undocumented immigrant, who spoke to The Arab American News on the condition of anonymity, missed the time frame to qualify for the temporary relief by a few months.

Rana (not her real name) has a child who is a U.S. citizen, but she entered the United States in June of 2010. Had she arrived six months earlier, she would have qualified for the temporary exemption from deportation.

She said she was excited when she heard that the president was going to take action on immigration. 

“I was hopeful and now I’m disappointed,” she said in her barely-accented English.

Rana has three children who live with her here. She is separated from her husband, who now lives overseas, and is unemployed because of her immigration status; so she relies on money her parents send her from Lebanon to take care of her family. 

She said she cannot return to Lebanon because of threats to her life related to family issues. 

“I’m stuck. I am illegal here and I cannot go back,” she said. “I want to become an American citizen. I would get a job and pay my taxes. I never did anything against the law.”

She added that she lives in constant fear of deportation.

“Everything is terrifying,” she said. “I’m even scared to drive. I have an international driver’s license, but police might become suspicious. I cannot live like this forever. I have an American boy. It’s unfair.”

 

Nabih Ayad, the executive director of the Arab American Civil Rights League, said fear of deportation is a “major problem” in the local Arab American community.

“Our immigration system is broken and it needs to be fixed,” he said. “Everybody across the board agrees it’s a serious issue. Obama’s executive order addresses some of the problems. It is a step forward, but it does not go all the way to give undocumented immigrants absolute confidence.”

Ayad said undocumented immigrants are suffering.

“There are people who have been here for 15, 20 or 30 years and they cannot get a loan or any kinds of benefits,” he said. “They have to live in fear, walking around like a ghost. They don’t know what morning Custom and Border Protection agents will come knocking on their doors to take them away from their families.” 

Ayad said Republicans will do everything they can to reverse the president’s action. He added that the GOP might challenge the executive order in the Supreme Court.

“But if politics does not play a role, Obama’s action would never be struck down,” Ayad said. “Presidents go to war on executive orders.”

Faye Awada, a social worker specializing in immigration, said the presidential action leaves too many people behind. 

“The executive order does not address key issues for the immigrants population,” she said. “There are people who have been here for years, but don’t have children. I am disappointed.”

Awada, who owns a translation and immigration services center in Dearborn, said her clients are rushing to ask about the executive order and if they qualify for relief.

“People think it is a general amnesty,” she said. “There is a lot of misconception. We want to tell the community that it is a temporary halt of deportations for specific immigrants. The guidelines for the order are not set yet.”

She added that applications for the relief will not be available until April or May.

Local media have estimated Michigan’s undocumented immigrant population at 100,000, but Dearborn-based immigration attorney Bette Jean Lathi says the number is much higher.

“Based on the volume of cases we get, I can tell you a huge chunk of the state’s immigrant population is undocumented,” she said.

Lathi stressed the importance of passing comprehensive immigration reform to ease the distress of immigrants and allow them to contribute to their communities.

“Undocumented immigrants tap into the resources of the community,” she said. “They are deprived of many services and benefits. For example, they cannot get healthcare insurance, so if they get sick, medical bills are a huge burden on them; and if they don’t have the money to pay they, they become a burden on the hospital. Also, their work and educational opportunities are limited.”

The U.S. southern border has a reputation for being a gateway for unauthorized immigrants. According to Lathi, many undocumented immigrants here have overstayed their student or visitor’s visas.

“Also a lot of people cross the Canadian or Mexican border and come here,” she said. “It takes a tremendous amount of bravery to get here this way.”

Awada, the social worker, said even people who qualify for the relief might be afraid to apply because of the temporary nature of the executive order. 

“It’s like waving your hand and telling the government ‘I am here,’” she said. 

Ayad, the head of the ACRL, who is also a civil rights attorney, said this fear is real, especially with Republican efforts to reverse the executive order.

However, Marielena Hincapié, the executive director of the National immigration Law Center, said at a teleconference organized by New America Media, that the federal government cannot use the information obtained through the relief program for enforcement.

She said there is a “firewall” between the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), where immigrants would apply for relief, and agencies that enforce deportations, like the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Marshall Fitz, the vice president of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, urged people to apply for the deportation exemption. He said it would be incredibly hard for Republicans to reverse the executive order if millions of people are affected by it. 

He added that once undocumented immigrants are confident that they will not be deported, they acquire a greater ability to organize with their allies and demand a more permanent solution.

Hincapié warned potential applicants for relief under the presidential action against overpaying for immigration services now, because the guidelines and applications for the program are not yet available.

“Don’t pay anybody who promises you to cut in line,” she said.

However, she added that those who want to apply can start preparing and translating the needed documents, like proofs of their dates of entry to the United States and parental relationship to their children.

According to Hincapié, stepchildren under the age of 18 count as biological children for meeting the requirement of having a child who is a citizen or permanent resident.