Government will stop deporting some illegal immigrants, allow them to work

The government will stop deporting many students and other illegal immigrants who are not a public safety threat and permit them to work in the country legally, the Obama administration announced Thursday.A new federal group will review the 300,000 backlogged deportation cases with an eye toward prosecuting criminals and other high-priority cases. But authorities will effectively close the cases of many upstanding high school and college students who were brought here illegally, military veterans, and adults with no criminal record and strong family ties to the United States.

"This case-by-case approach will enhance public safety," wrote Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in a letter to members of Congress. "Immigration judges will be able to more swiftly adjudicate high-priority cases, such as those involving convicted felons."Opponents criticized the move as "administrative amnesty" or "backdoor amnesty," while Democratic leaders cheered the change and some immigrant advocates said it was not enough.

The policy does not affect most of the more than 10 million people estimated to be living in the United States illegally; it only favors those who have already been placed in deportation proceedings. Napolitano said the policy change "will not provide categorical relief for any group," and said it did not alleviate the need for congressional immigration reform.Illegal immigrants determined to be a low priority for deportation will effectively have their cases closed, but immigration agents can reopen them at any time; the cases won't be dismissed, just set aside, officials said in a conference call Thursday.

"It makes no sense to spend our enforcement resources on these low-priority cases," said Cecilia Muñoz, the White House's director of intergovernmental affairs, in a blog post.

The case-by-case reviews will be based on guidelines established in June by a memorandum from the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which said agents should use discretion when dealing with illegal immigrants with longtime residency in the U.S. who do not have criminal convictions and have not repeatedly violated immigration laws. Among those considered a low priority are spouses -- both opposite-sex and same-sex -- of U.S. citizens.

Officials said immigrants deemed a low priority could also get permission to work in the United States.

Some immigrant activists said the announcement fell short of the immigration reform many have been fighting for."It is too soon to say whether these are simply cosmetic changes," said former Antioch resident Prerna Lal, a law school student at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who is scheduled to be deported to Fiji as early as this fall.

Lal said the changes might make her life easier, but do "nothing for immigrants in limbo who are not in removal proceedings and don't fit the narrowly-defined criteria. It also gives undocumented youth more incentives for putting themselves in removal, which is dangerous and risky."Lal, however, credited activists for pressuring the Obama administration, which has deported record-high numbers of people, to make the changes. Immigrants this week rallied in Los Angeles and other cities to protest the administration's centerpiece Secure Communities program, which allows federal agents to track down and detain immigrants whenever they are fingerprinted at local jails.

More than 4,600 Bay Area immigrants have been deported as a result of Secure Communities since the 9-county region joined the network last year. Of those deported, 36 percent had no criminal record.

The administration has said its program targets serious criminals, but advocates have long asserted the dragnet picks up many people arrested for minor traffic violations. Being in the country illegally is a civil violation, but not a crime. Napolitano said that for the first time in history and as a result of Secure Communities, half the immigrants deported nationwide last year were criminals, and most of the others were repeat violators of immigration laws. The new policy announced Thursday, she said, will help put even more focus on deporting convicted criminals.