Obama suspende deportaciones de jóvenes inmigrantes

The Associated Press:

The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. The election-year initiative addresses a top priority of an influential Latino electorate that has been vocal in its opposition to administration deportation policies.

The policy change, announced Friday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, will affect as many as 800,000 immigrants who have lived in fear of deportation. It also bypasses Congress and partially achieves the goals of the so-called DREAM Act, a long-sought but never enacted plan to establish a path toward citizenship for young people who came to the United States illegally but who have attended college or served in the military.

The extraordinary step comes one week before President Barack Obama plans to address the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials' annual conference in Orlando, Fla. Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney is scheduled to speak to the group on Thursday.

Under the administration plan, illegal immigrants will be immune from deportation if they were brought to the United States before they turned 16 and are younger than 30, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have no criminal history, graduated from a U.S. high school or earned a GED, or served in the military. They also can apply for a work permit that will be good for two years with no limits on how many times it can be renewed.

Un gesto que busca cambiar la conversación e insuflar entusiasmo en el electorado hispano pero que puede aumentar sus problemas con el electorado nativo, que no siente ningún aprecio por todo lo que suene a amnistía, en especial con los jóvenes blancos y negros desempleados.

Un día ha aguantado Obama concentrado en la economía. Tal vez porque su discurso no obtuvo las reacciones esperadas.