Schneiderman: President’s Obama Executive Actions Would Give Millions Of Undocumented Immigrants The Opportunity To Come Out Of The Shadows
NEW YORK – Attorney General T. Eric Schneiderman today announced that he has joined a coalition of states in filing an amicus brief in a federal Court of Appeals, asking that the court allow President Obama’s recent executive actions on immigration policy to take effect immediately, despite an injunction imposed by a federal district court judge in Texas.
“President’s Obama executive actions would give millions of undocumented immigrants the opportunity to come out of the shadows and stop living in fear,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “By giving work authorization to people who are already living here, we can increase the states’ tax revenue and reduce demand for social services. And states benefit immeasurably when thousands of their citizens and legal residents are given relief from the threat of seeing a parent deported.”
It is estimated that the President’s executive actions will impact an estimated five million individuals. One executive action would expand the population eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which gives beneficiaries the right to work, to include all young people who came to this country before turning 16 years old and have been present since January 1, 2010. Another executive action would create a new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability program, which would make eligible for deferred action and work authorization individuals who are parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, who have been in the country since January 1, 2010, and who pass background checks.
The brief was filed in Texas v. United States, a legal challenge by Texas and other states to the President’s authority to take executive action on immigration. The Washington State Attorney’s General Office authored the brief, which was joined by the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
For more information on the president’s executive action, including guidelines, forms and timelines, please click here.
Groups audience:
Appeals & Opinions Division
Civil Rights
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