New Immigration Law? Or a Policy Change for Removal Cases?
At my law office, I have been receiving many calls since July of this year asking whether a new law has been passed that helps illegal immigrants. There has been a change, but it is not a new law per se. Basically, the Obama administration has issued a policy change in how they will treat OPEN deportation and removal cases by setting "low priority" and "high priority" case standards. Those individuals with what are considered low priority cases are eligible for prosecutorial discretion, which means that the Immigration Court can "administratively close" or even terminate removal proceedings.
The reason for this policy change is that there are more removal cases than the current immigration court system can handle. In other words, Obama wants to focus on criminal aliens more than the aliens that have no criminal record and the aliens that have a possible means to obtain immigration relief.
We have noticed an increase in the cooperation of the trial attorneys for cases where the individual has no criminal history, and we are thankful for this new policy change.
Although the above is helpful for people who are currently in removal proceedings and have no serious criminal history, individuals with existing deportation or removal orders against them do not directly benefit from this policy change, because their case with the Immigration Court has already been closed. These individuals may benefit if they qualify for a Motion to Reopen based on other grounds, and they can cite this policy change as a reason for the Judge or the BIA to have mercy on them and grant their request.
Also, as recently reported by CNN, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has stated on October 19, 2011 that the work raids where hundreds are arrested will stop, and focus of immigration officials will turn to prosecuting and removing criminal aliens.
