Washington, DC – Democratic Senator Kamala Harris today announced a plan to offer a path to citizenship to thousands of undocumented youth, known as “dreamers,” and avoid the deportation of their parents or those immigrants who have not broken the law.
Harris, who is one of the more than 20 candidates for the Democratic Party’s candidacy ahead of the 2020 presidential election, announced the initiative she hopes to implement if she arrives at the White House.
“The ‘dreamers’ can not afford to wait for Congress to agree,” said the senator for California in a statement, which anticipated that becoming president will fight “for Congress to pass immigration reform of the 21st century. “
The initiative, which would benefit more than two million undocumented immigrant youth, includes the creation of a program of “In-Country Probation for ‘Dreamers’ (dreamers)”, similar to those that exist for victims of natural disasters or families of members of the armed forces.
Harris, who served as District Attorney in San Francisco and attorney general of California, anticipated that he will issue a rule that seeks to save the “main technical barrier” faced by these young people to regularize their status in the country. been admitted “legally or on parole”.
In this regard, said that rule seek to clarify that having been brought as children “is not their fault” they could not maintain a legal status, as provided by an exception in the Law of Immigration and Nationality (INA, in English ).
Likewise, it will seek to offer work authorization to “dreamers” and eliminate the age requirements so that these young people can benefit from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, among others.
“I will take steps to eliminate barriers that ‘dreamers’ face in order to obtain legal status and put them on a significant path to citizenship, these young people are as American as I am, and deserve a president to fight for them from the first day,” he said. Harris, who announced his electoral aspiration on January 21, Martin Luther King Day.
In September of 2017, President Donald Trump decided to eliminate the DACA, promulgated by his predecessor, Barack Obama (2009-2017), and which protected from deportation 690,000 undocumented youth who arrived in the country as children.
Four months later, a federal judge in California ordered that the program be maintained and that the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continue to accept renewals of the permits already granted, although it no longer allows new registrations in DACA.
Harris’ proposal also provides for the creation of a program to protect thousands of immigrants from deportation through deferred action for parents of citizens or legal permanent residents, as well as for migrants who have not violated the law.
To this end, it will consider factors such as military service, extended residence in the country and whether a person has children, spouses or parents who are beneficiaries of the deferred action, said the note of the senator’s presidential campaign. (EFEUSA)
