Harris proposes new executive actions to expand DACA, put some Dreamers on path to ci

In a bid to protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation, Sen. Kamala Harris is proposing a slate of executive actions that would expand President Obama’s deferral program for dreamers and help some young undocumented immigrants get a path to citizenship.

The presidential contender’s plan would represent an expansion of executive power on an issue that Congress has repeatedly failed to come to agreement on, even as polls show broad bipartisan support for protecting dreamers. While Harris says she wants to see Congress pass comprehensive immigration reform, she argues that the next president needs to take action quickly.

“Dreamers cannot afford to sit around and wait for Congress to get its act together. Their lives are on the line,” Harris said in a statement. “These young people are just as American as I am, and they deserve a president who will fight for them from day one.”

President Trump has moved to end Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which Obama put in place to give work authorization and block deportation for young undocumented immigrants who were brought into the U.S. as children. But the program has been preserved by court decisions after lawsuits from California and other states. Those decisions could go before the Supreme Court, which is expected to discuss the Trump administration’s challenge to them at a closed-door conference this week.

Harris’ plan would reverse Trump’s directive and expand the eligibility for DACA. It would eliminate the requirement that dreamers apply before they turn 31, raise the age limit for when they arrived from under 15 years to under 17 years, allow younger kids under 15 to apply with parental or guardian consent, and increase the two-year term of DACA protection to three years.

Parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents would also be able to apply for deportation protection if they pass a background check and have lived in the country for a certain number of years. The program would also be open to “other law-abiding immigrants with ties to their communities and will consider factors such as service in the military, extended residence in the United States, and whether an individual has deferred action-beneficiary children, spouses, or parents,” a campaign source said. In all, her campaign estimates it would protect 6 million undocumented immigrants.

The plan also includes a novel legal strategy to create a path to legal permanent residence and citizenship for some dreamers who would be eligible on family- or employment-based grounds if they weren’t already undocumented.

Currently, dreamers who want to become legal residents face a number of hurdles, even if they are married to a U.S. citizen or have an employer who is willing to sponsor them. For example, immigrants must have been “lawfully admitted or paroled” into the U.S., must have maintained continuously lawful status in the country and must not have worked illegally at any time.

Harris’ proposal would find workarounds for those hurdles that are already written into current immigration law. She would create a “parole-in-place” program for dreamers, allowing them to stay in the U.S. to change their immigration status instead of having to leave. A similar program exists now for undocumented family members of U.S. military service members.

Harris would also issue a rule clarifying that an exception written into immigration law for undocumented people who lost their legal status “through no fault of their own” applies to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. And she would allow dreamers who’ve worked in the country illegally to apply for retroactive work authorization from the secretary of homeland security — who already has the ability to grant work authorization under current law.

Many dreamers also face a three- or 10-year ban on re-entering the country after they leave. Immigration law lets the secretary waive those bans in cases of “extreme hardship,” and Harris would clarify that separation from a “close family member” would lead to a presumption of extreme hardship.

“It’s very wonky but very creative,” said David Leopold, the former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, who helped consult on the plan. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen anybody with the guts to use the immigration law in this way.”

Obama’s plan to defer deportation for parents of young undocumented immigrants was blocked in the courts, with an appeals court ruling that it exceeded the president’s authority. The Supreme Court, which then had only eight justices, deadlocked on the issue.

Harris’ supporters hope that she can avoid that fate — even after Trump has appointed dozens of new conservative federal judges — by emphasizing that the relief she grants dreamers would be awarded on a case-by-case basis that they would have to apply for.

“There are going to be people who say ‘Senator Harris has no right to grant green cards to all these people,’” said Stephen Legomsky, a former chief counsel at USCIS under the Obama administration and a professor at Washington University law school. “It’s important to emphasize that the only people who get green cards in this proposal are those who already meet the requirements Congress put in place, except for technical barriers this proposal would help them overcome.”




https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/06/...daca-dreamers/

Dreamers grew up in our communities and pledge allegiance to our flag. They serve in our military and thrive in our universities. Their families are an integral part of our country and economy. They represent the best of who we are and know no other place but the United States as their home.

Donald Trump can’t change that. And despite his best efforts, he can’t shake the resolve of our Dreamers and the hope they have in the America we’ll build when he’s gone. It’s an America where families are kept together, not torn apart. It’s an America where children are cared for, not kept in cages. It’s an America where Dreamers are finally recognized for what they are: Americans.

As the child of immigrants, that’s the America Kamala Harris will build—and she doesn’t believe Dreamers should have to wait a moment longer. As president, Harris will take executive action to keep immigrant families together and eliminate barriers that prevent Dreamers from accessing a path to U.S. citizenship.

We estimate the plan will protect over 6 million immigrants from deportation, add up to $445 billion to U.S. GDP over ten years, and provide America’s 2.1 million Dreamers a path to citizenship if they have a congressionally-required family- or employment-based grounds to adjust status.

Make no mistake – Congress must pass 21st century immigration reform, and Harris will fight to get it done as president. But while she fights to reform our laws, Harris will do everything within her legal authority as president to roll back Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda and build a future that lives up to America’s values.

HERE’S HOW WE’LL DO IT
Harris will immediately reinstate DACA and expand the program to ensure more Dreamers feel safe and secure in the only country they call home.

Every day we don’t act to protect Dreamers is a day our country is failing an important moral test. That’s why Harris will reinstate DACA immediately upon taking office.
Harris will also expand DACA by eliminating the requirement that Dreamers apply before they turn 31 years-old, raising the age at time of entry from 15 year-old and under to 17-years old and under, allowing little Dreamers under 15 years-old to apply for protection with parental or guardian consent, increasing the two-year term of DACA protection to three years, and updating the cutoff date for entry into the United States.
Parents of American citizens and legal permanent residents will be protected from the prospect of deportation, as will other law-abiding immigrants with ties to our communities.

Under the plan, parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents will be eligible to apply for deferred action if they pass a background check and have lived in the U.S. since a specified date. The deferred action program will also be open to other law-abiding immigrants with ties to their communities and will consider factors such as service in the military, extended residence in the United States, and whether an individual has deferred action-beneficiary children, spouses, or parents.
The program will be administered on a case-by-case basis and conform to the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.
It’s simple: Harris believes we should not be tearing apart immigrant families. Unlike in the past, her administration will focus our enforcement resources on those who actually pose a public safety threat, not families, veterans, and individuals contributing to our communities.
Dreamers will apply for the relief they need to obtain a Green Card and start the path to citizenship. Harris will use every tool available via executive action to eliminate unnecessary barriers, including:

Harris will use her parole authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to create a first-of-its kind “Dreamers Parole-in-Place Program.” Similar programs currently exist to unite families ravaged by earthquakes in Haiti and ensure families of service members can remain in America. This will allow Dreamers who have a U.S. citizen spouse to apply for removal of a technical bar that prevents many from obtaining a Green Card.
Harris will issue a rule clarifying Dreamers were not at “fault” for a lapse in their status. Currently, the INA is interpreted as barring many Dreamers from adjusting their immigration status because they’ve failed “to maintain continuously a lawful status since entry.” However, the INA includes an exception for immigrants whose inability to maintain status was, according to the statute, due to “no fault of [their] own.” Harris will issue a rulemaking clarifying the term “no fault of [their] own” includes being brought to the U.S. as a child.
Harris will direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to retroactively grant work authorization to DACA recipients. Another clause of the INA bars Dreamers from adjusting their immigration status if they have “accept[ed] unauthorized employment.” However, the Secretary of Homeland Security, has statutory authority to grant work authorization. Harris will allow DACA recipients to apply for work authorization retroactively, just as past Attorneys General have done in the context of other inadmissibility grounds.
Harris will provide relief from the 3- and 10-year bars faced by Dreamers and other deferred action recipients when they attempt to obtain a Green Card from a U.S. consulate abroad. The INA provides the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to waive the 3- and 10-year bars in cases of “extreme hardship.” Harris will issue a rulemaking clarifying that separation from a close family member creates a rebuttable presumption of “extreme hardship.”

Read more at https://kamalaharris.org/dreamers/#JO7UXejWtag3YTTD.99

I like her. Harris 2020.

one can dream

So it's just basically saying what she will do AFTER she wins, meaning it's not gonna mean jack shit this or next year lol

Too far fetched.

And I don't feel you, you’re really farfetched
I'm playin' for the A's, is you workin' for the Mets?
Place your bets, the odds are against me
It's Russian roulette, I got the mob niggas with me

This is DAPA/eDACA with a new wrapping. We all know where that landed us when Obama tried to pass the same.

We need legislation approved by Congress, not this.

Executive action = Lawsuits = Status quo. Wait until year 3000

Yyyeeeeeeesss! Can't wait!