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What you need to know about Obama’s plan for immigration reform The executive action and its effect on the health care coverage of California By Hannah De Castro-Abinuman
StaffWriter Subsequent to President Barack Obama’s recent declaration of executive action to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation, people are left with a thousand questions. How will Obama’s plan for immigration reform affect the country? Who are eligible to apply? How long will the deferred action last? These, and many more questions were answered recently by New America Media and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA at their special newsmaker briefing held on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 at the Japanese Cultural Center in Los Angeles, CA. In response to California’s pressing inquiries on the matter, these two organizations held a briefing and panel discussion led by experts on immigration and health care access. Members of the panel include Marielena Hincapie, executive director of National Immigration Law Center, Ronald Coleman, Government Affairs Manager of California Immigrant Policy and Doreena Wong, Health Access Project Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA. There were also personal testimonies by Californians who have been directly impacted by these issues by being an undocumented individual or being related to someone who is undocumented. The president’s announcement of the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) is certainly a pivotal moment in US immigration. The impact of this policy goes beyond deportation for undocumented individuals. This is a policy victory that has been fought for and won by immigrants themselves. Undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for more than five years will be granted temporary relief. They, who have been constantly putting their lives on the line by doing civil disobedience, hunger strikes or delaying medical attention due to lack of health coverage. The fear is real for these undocumented individuals. For instance, a mother may be concerned to drive her child to school in fear that she might be stopped and detained because she does not have a license. Or, a father afraid to go out in fear of being racially-profiled, getting picked up by the police and shoved into the deportation system. These are some of the constant struggles that will now be mended if the policy is implemented successfully. As said by Doreena Wong, project director for Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA, the undocumented population in California is very diverse. Latinos or Hispanics comprise a large group, but the biggest group of undocumented individuals among Asians and Pacific islanders in California are Filipinos. And yet, in the implementation of DACA two years ago, Filipinos were the smallest in number to come forward. Other ethnic groups include Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai and Indian. Despite this good news to the undocumented population, many are still afraid to step out of the shadows. That is why confidential pro-
Immigration forum panel: (From Left) Marielena Hincapie, Ronald Coleman, Doreena Wong, Michelle Yoon & Imelda Plascencia
tection is very critical. Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center said, “Now that the president has announced it, we’ve already started our advocacy with the Department of Homeland Security to make sure that we have confidentiality protection. There is strong protection so that for individuals who come forward, and if for any reason are not qualified, their information is not shared with immigration. Or if a person comes forward to apply and is eligible, but has a relative who is not, it won’t affect the status of the family in any way. The relative who is not eligible will not be at risk for deportation.” Although this reprieve is temporary, the National Immigration Law Center is hopeful that the qualified immigrants will not reach the end of the road after the 3-year period before a real immigration reform is implemented. “The more people who come forward to apply, the more successful the implementation program will be. And the more successful the implementation, the harder it will be for the future administration, even the Republican administration, to try to take that away from the people”, added Hincapie. As for access to health care, the California Immigrant Policy Center is very optimistic that California residents, even undocumented immigrants, will have better access to health insurance once DAPA has been implemented and California Senator Ricardo Lara’s “Health For All Act” proposed measure is approved. Ronald Coleman, government affairs manager for California Immigrant Policy Center said, “We know that the administrative relief does not cover the total undocumented population. For instance, people that are not connected to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident as their child will not benefit. And since we know that some people will be left out, we have to focus on making sure that anybody in California has access to affordable health care benefits, regardless of immigration status.” But Coleman also said through the implementation of DAPA, it is believed that some of the undocumented individuals who actually have professional skills, but may have had “work barriers” and are unable to access their desired field of work , will now be able to receive work authorization. And consequently, will be able to have economic mobility and be able to move in to jobs that offer employmentbased insurance. Here are the answers to the FAQs on Obama’s executive action/DAPA (source: New
America Media, news report by Elena Shore): Who will benefit from Obama’s executive action? There are three main groups that will benefit under Obama’s plan: parents of U.S. citizens or Legal Permanent Residents; undocumented immigrants who came to the US before the age of 16; and spouses and children of Legal Permanent Residents. Parents: If you are a parent of a U.S. citizen or a parent of a Legal Permanent Resident and you have lived in the US continuously since Jan 1, 2010 and can pass a background check, you may be eligible to apply for Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) and a work permit. The program should be up and running by May 20, 2015. Those who arrived before age 16: Obama is removing the age cap from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). So, if you were too old to qualify before, you may be able to qualify under the new DACA if you came to the U.S. before the age of 16, and have continuously lived in the U.S. since Jan 1, 2010. The DACA expansion is likely to go into effect Feb 20, 2015. Spouses and Children: Obama’s new program will allow spouses and children of Legal Permanent Residents to apply for a waiver so that they can get a green card sooner. Under current law, undocumented immigrants must
leave the U.S. to get a green card, which may trigger a three-year or 10-year bar that prevents them from entering the U.S. for that amount of time. They will now be able to apply from within the U.S. If I am granted deferred action, how long will it last? This is a temporary program that will protect you from deportation for three (3) years and it is renewable. Why is this temporary? Executive action is by its nature temporary. An act of Congress would be needed to create a more permanent solution. Will I be able to get a Social Security Number? Yes. When you get your work permit, go to your local Social Security office to apply for your number. Can I travel abroad under deferred action? Yes, but only if you apply for and are granted something called, “advance parole,” which gives you the authority to travel without being concerned about being stopped at a U.S. port of entry. How do I know if it’s safe to come forward? With DACA, the administration included certain confidentiality provisions that are a kind of firewall between USCIS and ICE. The same firewall will also be included in this program. How do I avoid being scammed? Be wary of anyone who says they can help you for a fee, before the new programs go into effect. There is nothing to apply for now, except for the current DACA program that was announced in 2012. The new DACA expansion that Obama announced is likely to go into effect Feb. 20, 2015 and the new deferred action program for parents is expected to go into effect May 20, 2015. So there is no reason to start See IMMIGRATION REFORM, page 14