President-elect Barack Obama’s approach to U.S. Immigration
By Atty. Mike Templo | 11/08/2008 6:59 PM
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After witnessing history in the making with the recent result of this month’s U.S. presidential elections, I’ve been asked by people how undocumented Filipinos in the U.S. will be affected by the approach of the new administration of President-elect Barack Obama to U.S. Immigration.
It is common knowledge to those who have been on the campaign trail, that Obama himself is a product of an immigrant story. It is safe to say that Obama fully appreciates the American dream -- that the United States remains the land where one can find a better life and give a better future to their children with hard work.
The American dream has brought generations upon generations of people to the U.S. with the hope of a new and better life. Self-evidently, Filipinos are no exception to the pursuit of this dream as good chunk of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants presently in the United States are Filipinos.
As a result of the global pursuit of the American dream, the Obama administration will have to deal with effectively halting the influx of undocumented immigrants, managing pending immigration applications, dealing with undocumented immigrants already inside the United States.
Obama’s answer to the challenges above is to call for a comprehensive immigration reform to fix, what he was termed, a “broken system.”
Obama talks about this comprehensive reform in his book, “Change We Can Believe In”. He points out that politics and partisanship must be first set aside. Only then would a comprehensive immigration reform policy be successful.
The reforms cover securing borders, enforcing laws by cracking down on U.S. employers that hire undocumented immigrants, and reaffirming the heritage of the U.S. being a nation of immigrants. Below is a summary of his policies.
Securing borders - Obama’s plan is first to secure all borders and ports-of-entry by providing additional personnel, infrastructure and technology. Customs and Border Protection agents and personnel must be given adequate technological and intelligence support. In terms of the borders themselves, Obama understands that physical fencing alone is not the only solution to keeping illegal immigrants out of the country, and Obama even goes as far as considering economical and environmental consequences of additional physical fencing.
Cracking down on employers that hire undocumented immigrants - By penalizing employers who hire undocumented immigrants, the incentive to come to the United States disappears. In addition, Obama will create an efficient and mandatory employment eligibility verification system to enable employers to verify that a person can legally work in the United States.
Reform of the Immigration System – Obama wants to create a pathway to U.S. citizenship to those undocumented immigrants who have been working and paying taxes. They would have to pay a penalty, pay taxes, and learn English but would have to fall in the back of the line of those who came to the U.S. legally. Obama wants reasonable immigration fees imposed and timely, accurate security background checks. He also wants to attract the most talented people in the world by improving permanent and temporary visa programs.
We have yet to see whether Obama’s immigration approach will come to fruition and how it will really affect undocumented immigrants already in the United States. But what can be expected is a fair and reasonable reform program that is in the spirit of the founding fathers of the United States.
A piece of advice to those who are intending to pursue that American dream – do it legally and don’t break any laws – or you risk turning your American dream into an unAmerican nightmare.
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Atty. Mike Templo will be holding a seminar on U.S. Immigration on Saturday, November 22, 2008 from 2 p.m.to 5 p.m. at AIM Makati City. For more information, email mdt@templolaw.com
Atty. Mike Templo is admitted to practice law in New York State and Federal Courts and is a partner at Templo & Templo with offices in New York, USA and Makati City, Philippines. Atty. Templo specializes in U.S. Immigration matters. The discussion above is not intended as legal advice, and cannot be relied upon for any purpose without the services of a qualified professional. For your comments and questions, you can email Atty. Templo at mdt@templolaw.com or log on to www.templolaw.com.