Our blog has talked extensively about the immigration reform that President Barack Obama and the Senate have spearheaded, but it seems that momentum and bipartisan support was lost when it went to the Senate. Even though the Senate passed a bill that was largely acceptable to both sides of the aisle, when the bill was sent to the U.S. House, it refused to take it up. This could mean many different things for the millions of immigrants who are waiting to file their applications for citizenship.
There are a large number of immigrants living in New Jersey who do not have the legal permission to be in the United States. Whether they are here because they have overstayed a visa or because they never entered the U.S. through official methods, they remain at risk of being deported if found out. They also lack the ability to work in the United States, which often means that they are forced to take low-paying jobs with employers who are willing to pay them under the table.
The younger generation of this immigrant group has been referred to as DREAMers, an acronym for the failed Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, a bill that would have created a path for citizenship for immigrant youth who were brought to this country as children. Now, some of these DREAMers are trying to expand the meaning of this title to include all immigrant families.
Ultimately, these immigrant families wait to hear how immigration reform will pan out and to see if there will ever be a way for them to file application for citizenship.
Source: ABC News, "DREAMers Take Family-First Immigration Message to Washington," Ted Hesson, July 8, 2013
