Information events
The Latin American Association is preparing to hold two information sessions Saturday at its Atlanta office for people seeking more details about the sweeping immigration overhaul President Barack Obama announced Thursday.
The free events are scheduled for 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at 2750 Buford Highway Northeast. The LAA bills itself as the largest provider of immigration legal service for Atlanta’s Latin American community.
Learn more about the president’s plan here: http://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction
Immigration attorneys across the Atlanta area are bracing for a flood of new clients now that President Barack Obama has announced his sweeping plan to shield up to 5 million immigrants from deportation.
For example, the Latin American Association — which bills itself as the largest provider of immigration legal service for Atlanta’s Latin American community — announced Friday that it will bulk up its legal office and hold two free public information sessions Saturday. The events are scheduled for 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at 2750 Buford Highway Northeast.
Meanwhile, furious Republican lawmakers are vowing to stop the president’s plan, calling it an illegal end run around Congress. Republican House Speaker John Boehner on Friday declared that Obama has deliberately sabotaged chances of a bipartisan immigration overhaul while “damaging the presidency itself.” He did not specify how Republicans will try to block the president’s plan, saying only that they “will rise to this challenge.”
The centerpiece of Obama’s plan provides work permits and three-year deportation deferrals for people who don’t have legal status but do have children who were born here or are legal permanent residents. To be eligible, they must have lived in the U.S. for at least five years, submit to background checks and pay taxes. More than 4 million people would be eligible nationwide. It’s unknown how many of them are in Georgia.
Federal immigration officials announced people can start applying for this relief in 180 days. Until then, they said, people should begin gathering documents proving their identity; their relationships with U.S.-born children and legal permanent residents; and proof they have continually lived in the U.S. for at least five years.
Latin American Association officials aren’t certain how many people will show up for the organization’s information sessions Saturday. But hundreds streamed through its front door for a similar event two years ago. The line spilled outside and down Buford Highway.
Obama’s “historic announcement is a critical step forward,” Jeffrey Tapia, the LAA’s executive director, told reporters Friday. “The Latin American Association will do everything possible within our mission to support the community as they apply for this benefit.”
Tapia also stressed that Obama’s plan provides safe harbor for only a fraction of the roughly 11 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S.
That made Obama’s announcement bittersweet for Maricela Medina, a Mexican immigrant living without legal status in Warner Robins. Medina, who has lived in the U.S. for 12 years, won’t qualify for relief under the president’s plan. But her teenage son is preparing to apply for a three-year deportation deferral through an Obama administration program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
“I feel really sad,” she said after she watched the president’s speech Thursday at the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights’ headquarters in Atlanta. “I thought I would be able to qualify for this relief, but I’m happy that my son is able to qualify.”
Medina took action Friday, joining several dozen other activists in loudly demonstrating against the nation’s deportation policies outside the Atlanta City Detention Center. The demonstrators called for the government to shield more immigrants from deportation.
As stone-faced police officers looked on, the activists banged drums and chanted “Free our friends! Free our neighbors!” Several carried a large banner declaring “Not one more deportation.” The city jail was holding 12 detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday. The federal government pays the jail $78 per day per ICE detainee.
In criticizing the president’s order, U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall called the move unconstitutional and said it “does absolutely nothing to improve our immigration system for the millions of individuals going about the process the right way.”
“Unfortunately, President Obama has once again chosen to disregard the voice of the American people and bypass Congress,” the Republican from Lawrenceville said.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed praised the president’s plan Thursday.
“President Obama’s administrative relief order is a significant step forward in achieving meaningful, comprehensive immigration reform,” he said in a prepared statement.
Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson offered a different view Thursday, saying the president “continues to circumvent Congress by executive order.”
“This is the wrong way to govern,” Isakson said. “Bottom line, any attempt to circumvent Congress and grant legal status to millions is unacceptable. We must stop the president from executing bad policy and will consider all legislative and legal options when determining the best course of action to do so.”
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