Many Undocumented Californians To Benefit From Extension Of Obama's Deferred Deportation Act
MODESTO (CBS13) - President Obama is expected to extend his "deferred act" later this week. The executive action went into effect in 2012 and delays deportation and proceedings for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.
There are conditions to the current plan. Applicants must be 31 at the time the rule was enacted and younger than 16 when they were brought to the U.S, they must also either be in school, have earned a high school degree or be honorably discharged veterans.
The Migration Policy Institute says about 1.2 million people were eligible under those rules. But now many more would become eligible if the president expands the program to eliminate the age cap? That cap includes a Modesto woman who's been in the U.S. since she was a teenager.
"You're not going to be afraid they're going to stop you and say, 'you don't have papers we're going to deport you,'" said Gloria Sanchez, who's an illegal immigrant.
Sanchez and her children are tired of looking over their shoulders for U.S. immigration officers.
"I came here when I was 14. My dad brought us over here," she said.
Arriving from Mexico more than two decades ago, Sanchez says she's haunted by the constant threat of deportation.
"It's hard because you cannot do a lot of things without this document," she said.
Keeping her family in a cycle of poverty, Sanchez didn't dare apply for a driver's license for fear of being exposed. That means she can't legally drive, get car insurance, or apply for jobs she's qualified for.
"It's bad because you can provide more when you have papers," she said.
But Sanchez, along with millions of others, may not have to hide anymore -- at least temporarily. Starting Wednesday President's Obama's 2012 executive order, better known as the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (DACA), is expected to extend from two years to three as it expands who can enter the program. It gives qualified illegal immigrants the confidence to look for work without fear of deportation.
"It's going to change a lot of things," said Homero Mejia, with Congregations Building Community. "It's a good step in the right direction."
Some advocates believe the former immigration policy rips families apart.
"Families are the foundation of our society, and if you separate them by a broken system it's not going to benefit anybody," said Sanchez. "When you have that paper, you know your family is going to be together. Your kids are not going to wake and say 'tomorrow we're going to wake up and not be here.'"