With relaxed rules for undocumented in the US, real work in Mexico begins
| Mexico City
Now that the US has implemented a reprieve for young, undocumented immigrants in the US, Peggy Jaramillo鈥檚 real work begins.
The director of Tu Casa San Luis en Dallas, which provides support to Mexican immigrants in Texas, is planning information sessions to get the Mexican expatriate community up to speed about how undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US before age 16, and are not yet 30 years old, can apply for a stay of deportation, a work permit, and continue their education under new rules that President Obama put into place after the DREAM Act failed to pass.
鈥淭here are millions of children in this situation,鈥� says Ms. Jaramillo, who splits her time between Dallas and San Luis Potosi in Mexico and works to educate families on both sides of the border. 鈥淣ow they鈥檙e going to have access to education. We鈥檙e trying to get all the information we can and get the word out.鈥�
Sixty percent of unauthorized immigrants to the United States are Mexican, according to the Migration Policy Institute. There were 6.7 million undocumented Mexicans living in the US in 2009.
President Obama鈥檚 鈥淒eferred Action for Childhood Arrivals鈥� doesn鈥檛 go as far as the proposed DREAM Act, which died on the Senate floor after passing the House of Representatives in 2010. That legislation would have created a path to citizenship for certain undocumented young people. The current policy provides a Social Security number and a temporary stay of deportation proceedings.
鈥淲e young people have a lot of abilities, and the fact that we鈥檙e from another country shouldn鈥檛 matter,鈥� says Mar铆a del Rosario P茅rez M茅ndez at a small taco stand on a busy corner of Mexico City. 鈥淚 believe we should have opportunities no matter where we are.鈥�
She expressed empathy for her聽paisanos聽in the US, especially those young people who may benefit from Obama鈥檚 reprieve. Some of those sent back to Mexico have no real ties to the country. Some don't even speak Spanish.
Even as the law takes effect, the Obama administration continues to focus on border security. The headlines in Mexico on Wednesday reflected greater concern with a聽聽report on US plans to send surveillance blimps - the kind used in operations in Afghanistan - to the US border with Mexico.
罢丑别听Journal聽on Tuesday reported that the military plans to test whether an unmanned blimp, also called 鈥渢he floating eye,鈥� could catch drug smugglers or migrants illegally trying to reach the US. Such enforcement generates suspicion in many corners in Mexico.
But Ms. Perez Mendez views the relaxed deportation rules favorably, as do many Mexicans. 鈥淚t says a lot that even though [Obama] is president, he has the humility to extend these opportunities to other people,鈥� she says.
