The Obama administration's plan to review the cases of 300,000 illegal immigrants currently in deportation proceedings to identify "low-priority" offenders has sparked a debate in Washington and beyond.
Officials said that by launching the case-by-case review, they are refocusing deportation efforts on convicted felons and other "public safety threats." Those who have not committed crimes could be allowed to remain in the U.S.
The move was cheered by some illegal immigrants, notably college students who have been pushing Congress to pass the Dream Act, which would allow them to stay in the country, as well as supporters of the legislation.
Senate Democrats working for immigration reform welcomed the new policy. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) , said it would "alleviate some of the pressure on our broken immigration system." Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), coauthor of the Dream Act bill that would grant a path to citizenship for certain illegal immigrant students, described the policy as "a fair and just way to deal with an important group of immigrant students."
No comments:
Post a Comment