Newark residents are waiting and watching to see what will happen with immigration reform, yet it appears that there will be more of battle for reform in the House of Representatives than there has been in the Senate. After the House's recent decision to prohibit funding for the Department of Homeland Security to utilize discretion in deportation proceedings, necessary funding to continue President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, it is unclear how the Senate's eventual immigration bill will fare in the House.
But that raises the larger question of how will immigration reform affect the immigration process in general? While there is still a long way before any reforms become laws, a complete overhaul will vastly change how immigration will be handled in New Jersey and across the country.
There will be, for example, a whole class of people who never thought they needed the services of an immigration attorney thrust into a situation where they need to either try to figure out the immigration process alone or work with someone who is much more familiar with it. At the risk of messing something up and being forced out of the country, many people will likely work with attorneys.
There may also be vast changes to the immigration process that affect individuals who are already a part of the process. Maybe the way in which visas are issued and renewed is changed; maybe waiting times are shortened or elongated; maybe existing programs will disappear, sending individuals to new immigration programs. Ultimately, what changes will be made is still unknown, all that we know is that change is likely coming.
Source: Los Angeles Times, “GOP rejects Dream Act-like deportation deferrals,” Lisa Mascaro, June 6, 2013
