The Wall Street Journal reports Administration insiders as saying the president’s executive amnesty may use two main criteria in deciding whether illegal aliens get additional protection from deportation - a minimum period of residence in the U.S. and family ties to others in the country. The vast majority of illegal aliens are already safe from deportations due to the Administration’s non-enforcement policies.
Persons familiar with Administration deliberations said the criteria could offer additional protection to between one million and four million illegal aliens, depending on how they are defined. One person told the Journal the Administration is leaning toward using 10 years as the minimum period of illegal residence, although other criteria would have to be met as well.
Illegal alien with children considered to be U.S. citizens are likely to qualify, the Journal reports, but it is not known whether the Administration will extend the amnesty to the parents of minors who were given a two-year stay of deportation and work permit under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Journal’s sources also did not know if an illegal alien would qualify if he/she is married to a U.S. citizen.
The Journal reports that Obama’s executive actions also may: extend DACA to more illegal minors; change existing “prosecutorial discretion” criteria to protect more illegal aliens; “recapture” unused visas from previous years in order to offer businesses more foreign workers; and facilitate the ability of foreign students to remain in the U.S. after graduation as they seek employment-based visas.
One source told the Journal that Obama wants to develop a plan that would be hard to reverse after his presidency. The source said the White House may wait until after another continuing resolution passes Congress before announcing the plan. The current continuing resolution keeps the government running through December 11th.
Read more in the Wall Street Journal and BuzzFeed.
