I was eating lunch at a Chili’s in McKinney, Texas today when over my husband’s shoulder I saw President Obama’s face appear on the television screen mounted on the wall. The caption read: Obama moves on Dream Act. I tried to read the rest but the waitress came with our check and when I looked back up, the news had moved on to something else.
As we were walking out I said to my husband, “But if Obama is just presenting this again to Congress, you know it will go nowhere.”
When we got home, Ray looked it up online and said, “It looks as if this will allow kids who were brought to the country illegally and have been here at least five years to get work permits for at least two years and also not to be deported.”
“But is this just another proposal to Congress?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Just then Alvaro texted me, “Did you hear the news?” Alvaro, our beloved family friend, who was born in Mexico but who has lived in the U.S. since he was seven, and is one of those 800,000 young people who have been caught in this immigration Catch -22. A star athlete in high school in baseball and basketball, he has been studying at LA Trade Tech in a two-year program to become an industrial electrician. All with the constant fear that he could be deported at any moment back to a country where he hasn’t lived since he was a little boy. He refers to his illegal status as his “situation,” and has said over and over, “I’m just going to keep my chin up and keep moving ahead. Surely one of these days, the Dream Act will pass and everything will change.”
I couldn’t respond to Alvaro’s text until I looked up the news report and ascertained Obama’s actions did not require Congressional approval. I skimmed through the article until my eyes fell on those words that would make all the difference: Executive Order.
I wrote Alvaro back. “I am so happy for you. Hurray! I have tears in my eyes as I am writing this.”
His response, “I guess I wasn’t the only one who leaked a tear. LOL. I am so happy.”
I realize we have many issues in our country that are controversial, but penalizing young people who have lived here for years and who are hard-working and law-abiding is not one of them. We are a nation of immigrants. We need to treat each other in a just and right manner. Today, President Obama’s actions will change one very fine boy’s life forever, as well as many others just like him. I could not be more pleased or proud.
20 Minutes a Day 
That’s so wonderful for your friend Alvaro and so many kids like him! Thanks for Sharing!
Thank you for your kind response. Yes, almost a million young people wll be positively affected. What a great day.
I, too, am glad this Executive Order will prevent kids who might have been brought here as babes in arms from being deported to a country they know nothing about, maybe not even speaking the language. I know it’s not a permanent fix but it gives time to find an equitable one.
Yes, Sam, time for a more equitable solution. Exactly! Thanks for commenting.
Len, I am glad your friend has finally found a good feeling about his, “situation.” I also think he was caught up in an immigration warp not his fault. I have wondered why legal immigration was never sought by your friend, and those in his same situation. Of course you know who I work for and I’m sure our views on the immigration laws will agree some, and disagree some. My concern is that the immigration floodgates will be thrown wide open with no way to verify the criteria for someone falling under this executive order by the President. The INS can’t keep up nor enforce the laws that are on the books now, much less try to verify the authenticity of those seeking this repose as they come by the hundreds of thousands. The Dream Act was indeed stalled by partisian politics in Congress. I hold Dems as well as Republicans at fault for that. However, there is such a thing as the Constitution; that founding document that has made this nation the greatest nation on earth. I don’t have to remind you of the lives laid at its alter. My reasoning is that this has to be a constitutional issue to assure it stands as the law of the land, like the rest of the constitution does. A valid plan must be in place and staffed by enough manpower, supported by law, that will regulate immigration. We have turned our backs on the laws that have been on the books for so long, that now it is impossible to adaquately enforce them. You just can’t make new laws because you refuse to enforce the already exisiting laws. Yes, we are a nation of immigrants, unless your a pure bred American Indian. Without proper regulation of immigration, we will implode from within. Our prisons are overflowing with the illegal criminal right now, to the extinct that they almost outnumber the, “American Criminal.” We probably disagree on this, but I believe Obama will be defeated in November. One of Romney’s first acts will be to strike down this Executive Order issued by the President yesterday, and he will seek a congressional solution that will be binding for the Dream Act. He has said as much. It is the senators and the representatives that care more about their longevity than they do about the good of people and this country, that we should direct our ire at. I fear that your friend will have a short-lived feeling of elation concerning this issue; and that dear Len, is a sad thing indeed. There is no easy solution to this issue, because we have let this elephant stand in the corner of our living room, ignoring it for so long. This executive order will cause great pain later on for citizens and illegal immigrants alike, no matter if they are here not of their own doing. I am reminded of the last great Indian Chief and the Trail of Tears episode in our nation’s history, when he was invited to the White House to be petted by an American President in the 1880’s. When asked by the President what advice he might have to run a country successfully, the old Chief responded, “pay very close attention to your immigration. You see what lack of attention to such matters did to my people.”
Rodney
I was under the impression that this Executive Order was not intended to be a possible path to citizenship or amnesty or such, but only to inhibiting deportation of individuals who were “illegal” through no fault of their own. They would still be “aliens.” Am I missing something?