No Spin: The ACTUAL Obama Immigration Changes

In recent days, I’ve had lots of discussions about the new immigration reforms enacted by President Obama. Irrespective of the question on whether or not he can legally make such changes, the content of what’s changing has been terribly represented, and I’m afraid that internet memes have become a primary source of “information” on which people base their opinions. They are a scourge, and the vast majority mislead.

In an effort to help discern fact from fiction, and provide a factual basis for people to apply their worldviews and form their opinions, I compiled a condensed form of the raw contents of the immigration changes, no spin. I’ve also included links to all the original documents. Hopefully this will help identify misinformation and allow us to make decisions on whether to trust the source.

First, let’s dispel some myths.

• The changes do not include any new path to citizenship and does not confer new legal status on anyone.
• Whether or not it’s “amnesty” depends on how you define it.

• The changes do not “open the border” or create wide-scale new ways for people to cross the border legally, with two exceptions noted below for very specific situations.

Presidential Memoranda

“Modernizing and Streamlining the U.S. Immigrant Visa System for the 21st Century” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/21/presidential-memorandum-modernizing-and-streamlining-us-immigrant-visa-s)

• Directs departments to consult with others outside the federal government to propose ways to streamline legal immigration and make the process less costly, easier to enforce, and less burdensome on businesses.
• Similarly, propose ways to ensure that we are able to process applications quickly enough to issue all the visas Congress has authorized and for which there is demand (currently the process takes so long they are not able to keep pace with even what Congress has authorized).
• Improve the IT systems that handle immigration processing.
• Create metrics by which we can measure whether things improve.

“Creating Welcoming Communities and Fully Integrating Immigrants and Refugees” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/21/presidential-memorandum-creating-welcoming-communities-and-fully-integra)

• Establishes the “White House Task Force on New Americans”, charged with looking at state and local efforts that “are working” to see if they can be expanded to the national level. Led by DHS.

Executive Actions

The “meat” is in the directives of department heads to their departments.

Strengthen Border Security (http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_southern_border_campaign_plan.pdf)

• Continues the “surge” of resources from earlier this year.
• Creates task forces to examine both maritime and land borders.
• Tasks them with designing central command centers for managing border enforcement and ensuring appropriate distribution of resources.

Replace “Secure Communities” Program with “Priority Enforcement Program” (http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_secure_communities.pdf)

• Only attempt to transfer illegal immigrants from state/local into federal custody if the person is convicted of certain offenses from the two top priority categories, or when there is some other national security concern.
• In response to 4th amendment decisions against compelled extended detainment, replace detaining them beyond “normal” detainment with the law enforcement agency notifying DHS of pending release. For instances in which DHS does request extended detainment, DHS must provide “probable cause”.

Realign Job Structure and Pay for ICE to be More Similar to Other Agencies (http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_pay_reform_ice_officers.pdf)

Prosecutorial Discretion and Deferred Action (http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_deferred_action.pdf)

• Case-by-case (reviewed through an application process which includes background checks and appropriate fees) deferred action for parents already here illegally of children who are already here legally, who have been here 5 years or more as of 1/1/2015, and are not on the “enforcement priorities” list published in (http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_prosecutorial_discretion.pdf).
• Remove the age cap for kids, so that it applies to all children who entered illegally under 16 and have been here 5 years, regardless of how old they are now.
• Change deferment renewal periods to 3 years instead of 2.
• Agencies are to review those currently in deportation process and those in custody to see if they meet these criteria.

Provisional Waiver Program (http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_i601a_waiver.pdf)

• Expands the waiver eligibility already available to spouses and children of citizens to also apply to spouses and children of “legal permanent residents”. Allows them to apply for waivers from the 3-year and 10-year bars if they had been in the country illegally for 6 months or more, but (a) are eligible for immigrant visas, (b) were returning to their home country for a required consular interview, AND (c) can show that being barred entry would impose “extreme hardship” to those relatives who are here legally. This allows them, if approved, reasonable assurance they can re-enter the U.S. after the interview and pursue normal avenues of legal residence.
• Define the “extreme hardship” requirement above.

Parole Changes - High-skilled Workers (http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_business_actions.pdf):

• Increase efficiency in processing green card applications. Desired impact is to enable them to issue all the green cards authorized by Congress each year. Current procedures impose such delays that they haven’t been.
• Allow them to change jobs without the loss of their green card.
• Propose revisions to regulations to expand the disciplines covered by STEM rules and extend the OPT periods, but make OPT approvals more tightly tied to the sponsoring schools to ensure they’re really staying to do things related to their education (internships, etc.). Also, ensure that labor market protections are observed. This is one of two provisions that potentially enables more people to cross the border.
• Create/clarify standards by which workers who fit the “national interest waiver” can be evaluated. These are folks that are in various specific fields that the government feels to be in the “national interest”, and therefore can get green cards without employer sponsorship.
• Allow parole status to entrepreneurs, inventors, researchers, and founders of start-ups who may not qualify for the national interest waiver yet, but “who have been awarded substantial U.S. investor financing or otherwise hold the promise of innovation and job creation through the development of new technologies or the pursuit of cutting-edge research.” These would not be eligible for Obamacare. This is the second provision that could allow more people across the border.
• Clearly define “specialized knowledge” for the L1-B visa program, which allows companies to transfer employees between operations in other countries and their presence in the U.S.
• Clarify what “same or similar” mean in the context of those with employment-based visas who wish to take a new position or accept a promotion. This has been deemed too vague.

Parole Changes - Parole In Place (http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_parole_in_place.pdf)

• In response to a request from the Department of Defense, expands the scope of the current program to family members of citizens and legal residents who want to enlist in the military.
• Make deferred action available to those undocumented family members in the same group who would be eligible, but were at one point legally admitted to the U.S.

Parole Changes - Advance Parole (http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_arrabally.pdf)

• Asks the DHS General Counsel to examine a particular Board of Immigration decision to clarify guidance on how to implement the principles evident in that decision.

Promote and Increase Access to Citizenship (http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_naturalization.pdf)

• Lets lawful residents who are eligible to pursue citizenship pay the $680 fee by credit card.
• Consider the potential for expanded fee waivers or tiered fees based on income in annual fee reviews.
• Better promote the existing path to citizenship.