Just two days after a judge in the United States of America gave a ruling that young illegal immigrants who were granted permission to remain in the United States could receive in-state tuitions in colleges across Arizona, as the state Board stated that they would be able to get tuitions at public universities too.
The illegal students, also called DREAMERS have been trying to get tuition facilities for all students who have been staying in the country under DACA or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA accords temporary legal status.
A judge recently gave a ruling that DACA immigrants can also receive state tuition across colleges in Arizona. The Board stated that it would interpret its policies in accordance with the Court ruling and extend the policy to the state universities. The decision would be effective with instant effect. More than 23,000 DREAMERS received DACA benefits since its beginnings in 2012, according to the latest numbers given by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS. The board stated in a statement, “The board remains committed to affordable access to higher education for all eligible students,” and is “also committed to compliance with state and federal law.” The number would go up if a planned extension of DACA would go forward. This has been currently blocked in the courts.
Immigration lawyers looking after the welfare of women and children who have been caught coming across the borders into the United States of America illegally state that while facilities for detention have been enhanced since last summer still face certain hurdles, even ones that strike against their ability to help.
Many immigration lawyers were perturbed watching conditions last year at a temporary center for detention of families in Artesia, New Mexico which was host to such migrants. But the condition has altered for the better this year, with women and children crossing the borders in smaller numbers, and the new detention facilities recently opened becoming much better.
What pro bono lawyers and attorneys are saying is – newer obstacles are a spanner in the works and are stopping efforts that help families moving away from violent situations. It was stated by them that ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement was purposely making it very difficult for them to work effectively at the new detention centre for families. ICE officials vehemently deny this allegation.
Volunteers are complaining that the officials at ICE are not permitting them to get materials for clients that would be of assistance, as the temporary center in Artesia ad previously allowed the same kind of items. Mobile phones and other accessories like printers or scanners were banned, instead, only portable printers are permitted, and these break from being constantly used.
The Congress Republican Party seems to be out of touch with the nerve centre of the American idea of immigration – the party is currently after President Obama’s government to shut down the Department of Homeland Security – a move that will affect 0.25 million employees of the Department, forcing many out of employment and triggering “furloughs” for thousands of workers. This seems to show how out of step the Republican party is with the issue of illegal immigration. As it is, sources say, the Secret Service, Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection forces are highly demoralized, due to the high rates of illegal crossing over of immigrants taking place on the borders and seas.
Surveys reveal that 60 per cent of Americans are opposing the way GOP is jeopardizing Homeland Security – they think this is a measure to subvert the Obama government. According to a television poll a big majority feels that the entire issue of department funding should be kept separate from immigration policy. But what is frustrating, sources say, is that the GOP is not at a consensus even on immigration policy. Some of the Republicans refused to take up a bill passed by the Senate in the year 2013 – this could have paved the way for around 11 million illegal immigrants. Any alternative legislation to address the question of handling undocumented immigrants was also not addressed.
The executive action declared by President Barack Obama that proposes to spare thousands and millions of illegal immigrants from deportation seeks to be the biggest federal program rollout since the launch of Obama Care, and many immigration officials hope that it would be a lot smoother than that.
The Department of Homeland Security Secretary stated that everybody in the Department was very focused on that measure and he believed that they were going to get it right.
But the opposition to the plan stems mainly from the Republicans, which would then threaten to do away with the blockage of deportation of as many as 5 million illegal immigrants.
The Department of Homeland Security has rented out a huge office building in Crystal City, Virginia, from where thousands of federal workers and contractors would process applications.
The prediction is that more than a million people would apply in the first 6 months itself. Critics of this measure state that the department would not be in a position to ask people from all over the country to come to Virginia. Instead, they would do most of the work online, and the online interview process is always an invitation to fraud, they claimed.
The cost of the plan was also being criticized by many to be over the top – more than 300 to 400 million dollars is estimated to be spent over the next few years, making it a very costly process in the long run.
