Today Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (CDM) along with immigrant communities and labor and advocacy groups, celebrates an important step made by President Obama to improve the lives of immigrant families and workers. We applaud the President for taking this bold step to fix our broken immigration system.
Pursuant to the President’s plan, unveiled during an announcement on November 20, up to five million undocumented immigrants will be eligible for administrative relief from deportation and work authorization. Parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents will be eligible for administrative relief if they have been in the country for five years and meet other criteria. Due to this new policy, many families will no longer be at risk of being cruelly torn apart by our broken immigration system. At the same time, work authorization allows immigrant workers to step out of the shadows and report wage theft, unsafe working conditions or discrimination in the workplace without fear of deportation.
CDM will continue to push for reforms to the temporary work visa programs and for a more permanent solution for aspiring Americans that includes a pathway to citizenship and strong worker protections. As we celebrate this victory, the fight for justice in international labor recruitment and for improved wages and working conditions for low-wage migrant workers continues.