AILA South Florida is calling on President Obama to take executive action to implement meaningful and much-needed immigration reform. The President has indicated that he is considering using his authority in the wake of continued Congressional inaction on the issue. The President possesses broad executive powers which he can use to help alleviate the current immigration crisis and fix our broken immigration system, making it more responsive to family and business realities.
Practical and impactful changes the President could make within his lawful exercise of executive power include:
- Granting parole-in-place to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who are beneficiaries of approved visa petitions
- Ordering that favorable prosecutorial discretion be used to grant waivers allowing foreign nationals to return to the U.S. after traveling abroad for an immigrant visa
- Processing all waivers in the U.S., allowing foreign nationals to confidently proceed abroad for their immigrant visas and assure their ability to re-enter the U.S.
- Allowing those granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a protection granted to those fleeing war or natural disasters, to adjust their status
- Adjusting the worldwide visa count to use one number per family unit rather than one per each person in the family
- Publishing reasonable unlawful presence regulations, which do not currently exist
- Using constructive custody, such as electronic surveillance, instead of incarcerating foreign nationals who are not dangerous
- Extending Optional Practical Training (OPT) for students beyond a mere one year, allowing them to use their education in the U.S.
- Issuing employment authorization to spouses of nonimmigrant workers, alleviating pressure on the limited H-1B supply
Members of AILA South Florida have worked diligently to provide key information to the Obama Administration about ways to enact positive and productive policies that will help correct faults in the existing immigration system.
“The current immigration crisis has shed a bright light on the vast issues and challenges of our present system,” said AILA South Florida President Jacob Ratzan. “For years, the dedicated attorneys of AILA South Florida have strongly advocated for desperately needed, comprehensive immigration reform.”
AILA South Florida past president and leading reform advocate Tammy Fox-Isicoff added: “We certainly hope that President Obama will have the courage and fortitude to take the lead by enacting executive changes that alleviate many of the current and ongoing immigration issues. Through the implementation of responsive new policies, the President can once and for all inject rationality and humanity into a broken system to the benefit of both immigrant families and American businesses.”
About AILA South Florida
AILA South Florida is one of the largest and most respected chapters of the national American Immigration Lawyers Association. The organization’s attorneys are dedicated to providing personalized and high quality immigration law counsel to U.S. businesses, families and individuals throughout South Florida. AILA South Florida attorneys strive to utilize their legal education, experience and specialized knowledge to effectively represent individuals in immigration legal matters based on each person’s unique circumstances, immigration history, and ultimate objectives. Learn more at http://www.ailasouthflorida.org.
