Immigrants across the country are both excited and confused to see if they can qualify under President Barack Obama's yet-to-be-announced plan to shield as many as 5 million immigrants from deportation. And it has many relatives on edge over who will stay and who will go.
For example, Adriana Guzman, who was seeking some answers on Wednesday night at St. Peter's Church in San Francisco, expects to stay in this country. And the presidential executive action to be announced Thursday evening is expected to make things better for her 8-year-old daughter, Jasmine, who was born in the United States.
But for her 10-year-old daughter, Naomi? Because she was born in Mexico, the girl will likely be deported. "For me I am really happy that I'm not having to fear to be in the street or at work," Guzman said at the church, where immigrants and activists were drawing signs for a planned protest Thursday. "My heart is still broken because I will be part of this government. But not my oldest daughter."
During prime time on Thursday, Obama is expected to take executive action to protect many, but not all, of the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally from deportation after Congress failed to pass an immigration overhaul.
Obama is expected to:
- Extend temporary relief from deportation, along with work permits, to as many as 5 million immigrants now in the country illegally. The action would affect nearly half the around 11 million who are here illegally, and would apply to those who've been in the country at least five years and have close family ties to U.S. citizens.
- Allow young immigrants who entered the country illegally as children but do not now qualify under a 2012 directive from the president to avoid deportation.
- Expand his 2-year-old program that allowed immigrants under 31 who had arrived before June 2007 to apply for a reprieve from deportation and a work permit - a program that to date has shielded more than 600,000 young immigrants from deportation. One option under consideration would remove the upper age limit so applicants don't have to be under 31.
Obama's steps, however, would not include the parents of those young immigrants, a move many advocates had vigorously encouraged him to take. He also was not including special protections for farm workers sought by the United Farm Workers, though the provisions in his plan would allow up to 250,000 farm workers to be eligible for work permits, according to Giev Kashkooli, the UFW's national political legislative director.
Republicans are vehemently opposed to the president's likely actions, with some conservative members threatening to pursue a government shutdown if he follows through on his promises to act on immigration before the end of the year. Tex. Gov. Rick Perry even said at a panel of governors moderated by NBC's Chuck Todd that his state is likely to sue.
But there is plenty of criticism in Obama's own party. Liberal activists are asking Obama to do more.
San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi wants the president to add a component of attorney funding into his order so that immigrants are able to navigate the complex web of new laws.
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Then, there is the issue of keeping families together. Ju Hong, a UC Berkeley graduate and San Francisco State University student from South Korea who heckled Obama in November 2013 over the issue of separating families, is protected from deportation because of his student status. But his relatives do not share that privilege.
"The current plan does not help my mother or older sister," he told NBC Bay Area. "Aand leaves out seven more million undocumented families."
Associated Press Writers Jim Kuhnhenn, Erica Werner, Julie Pace, Donna Cassata, Alicia A. Caldwel, Amy Taxin, Russell Contreras in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Laura Wides-Munoz in Miami contributed to this report.
