January could have marked a sad, forced return to El Salvador for Angela Hernandez’s family after living in the United States for 23 years. Instead, she said President Joe Biden’s action on immigration on the same day of his inauguration has turned Jan. 20 into one of the most hopeful that she can remember.
Only a few months ago, on a day in mid-September, the Salvadoran immigrant said she woke up to yet more news about the Donald Trump administration’s quest to expel around 400,000 immigrants like her who have been legally residing and working in the country with Temporary Protected Status or TPS.
“I remember that day I was starting to make egg sandwiches for breakfast for the kids,” said Hernandez, a mother of five, who for decades has worked as a textile machinery operator in Houston.
She said she started quietly crying when she heard the news coming from the TV. A federal appeals court panel had opened the door for the government to cancel the humanitarian program, and she would have until January to either go back to violence-infected El Salvador or face a life under the shadows as an undocumented immigrant in the U.S.
“But what a difference now from what I thought it was going to be,” said Hernandez, watching Biden’s inauguration at her home in North Houston. “I am happy. It’s a very special day for me because it fills me with hope. I thrust that Biden will help us get a permanent residency.”
Hernandez is among over 100,000 immigrants celebrating the change from a Trump to a Biden administration as they could be positively impacted by an executive action he made on his first day in office. The immigration initiative would provide a path to residency and citizenship to many immigrants in the country.
That number includes approximately 43,000 TPS holders residing in the Houston area from designated countries, most from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti, as well as Nicaragua, Syria, Nepal, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen. It also includes 33,000 people with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival, according to the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative. DACA is a program created under the Barack Obama administration that provides temporary protection from deportation and work permits to young people who came to the country illegally when they were minors.
When counting the children of TPS holders, most of whom have resided in the country for two decades and have American-born kids, “the chorus cheering Biden’s proposal gets quite large, over 100,000 that could be directly impacted by Biden’s proposal,” said Teodoro Aguiluz, director executive del Centro de Recursos Centroamericanos in Houston.
Under Biden’s legislative plan, TPS and DACA holders—also known as Dreamers— and certain qualifying undocumented people, would be eligible to initiate a path with an option to citizenship after five years with a designated temporary status followed by at least three more with residency. His proposal also includes extending refugee resettlements. Additionally, the new president signed executive orders Wednesday overturning some signed by his predecessor. Among them, halting construction of border walls and reinstating protections for DACA recipients.
“A great majority of those individuals (with TPS and DACA) are law-abiding members of society, pay taxes, some are health care workers, and other essential workers,” said professor Geoffrey Hoffman, director of the University of Houston Immigration Clinic. “It is important to remember that immigrants and immigration more broadly has been shown to be a boon to our economy, our city, our state and the nation as a whole.”
Many families in Houston and the country are composed of people with mixed immigration statuses, including children and spouses born in the United States or with green cards.
“Not only Dreamers like me are excited but also our parents,” said Josue Ventura, a 26-year-old DACA holder who came to the country when he was six. “My mother is over the moon, happy. But I have seen my mother crying many times these last years. We have felt a lot of uncertainty with the government trying to cancel” DACA.
With a widowed mother who is suffering health issues and a 5-year old sister, Ventura is the head of his household. He provides for his small family from his works at an Apple store and as an independent translator for school districts and the Child Protective Services. Losing his permit to work and live in the U.S. would mean losing his life and his sisters as they know it, he said. “I have no memories of Mexico, and I love this country and the doors it has opened to me and my mother,” he said.
Caution and action
Local advocacy organizations such as FIEL Houston welcomed what they saw as a courageous action from the new president.
“We are hopeful because President Biden had the courage to include such a big issue as immigration in his agenda on his first day,” said Cesar Espinoza, director of FIEL Houston. “After the past years of family separation and failed immigration policies, we welcome this new atmosphere brought by Biden. We welcome the change.”
However, Espinoza emphasized that “we should be cautiously optimistic and remember that this is only the beginning of a process that would require several steps in Congress.”
Hoffman, the UH professor, warned that new policies and regulations coming from the new administration will require time to be implemented. “There will be some period of transition and there is a lot of work to be done on the administrative level, even if Comprehensive Immigration Reform becomes a reality.”
Aguiluz also cautioned that both Democrats and Republicans have attempted to promote changes on immigration that never materialized.
“Biden’s plan has naturally provoked great joy among immigrant communities, although we need to distinguish the difference between reality and mirage,” said Aguiluz.
Aguiluz noted that Biden was vice president during the Obama administration, which lost a unique opportunity to pass a comprehensive immigration reform while controlling Congress at the beginning of its mandate. Republican President George W. Bush also attempted and failed to deliver such reform.
“The point is that we don’t want people to be hopeful and sit around waiting for things to happen,” Aguiluz insisted. “This is a time for action to turn promises into realities. We have to push our representatives in Congress.”
Some leaders believe that immigrant communities are more prepared now than ever to push for immigration changes.
“If we have gained something from the extreme policies of the Trump administration, it’s that we have organized ourselves better than ever before,” said Elmer Romero, board member of Alianza America, a national coalition of more than 70 immigrant organizations pushing for reforms. He attributes Biden’s win in part to efforts from immigrants with temporary statuses and undocumented in mobilizing families and friends nationwide to defeat Trump in the 2020 elections.
Alain Cisneros, an activist with FIEL Houston, agrees that immigrants now have an unprecedented capacity to mobilize and said the organization is planning to jump start a 100-day plan to push for changes in Congress.
“We have it in 100 days, or we lose it in 100 days,” Cisneros said, referring to a plan to make politicians accountable to produce long-standing promises to reform immigration.
“We will monitor senators and congresspeople. We will visit offices, we will call and send emails, we will mobilize,” said Cisneros. “There is a great opportunity now. It’s now or never.”
"plan" - Google News
January 21, 2021 at 08:56AM
https://ift.tt/3o5Ek4B
Immigrants applaud Biden’s immigration plan, prepare for action - Houston Chronicle
"plan" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2un5VYV
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Immigrants applaud Biden’s immigration plan, prepare for action - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment