President Barack Obama AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
MANILA, Philippines—United States Congresswoman Jackie Speier has expressed support for President Barack Obama’s new policy stopping the deportation of undocumented young immigrants, saying the decision would give the immigrants forms of “basic relief.”
“The administration’s decision means that eligible young people will be allowed to apply for basic relief from removal from the country and also for work permits,” Speier said in the statement.
Obama issued the directive on Friday (Saturday in Manila).
Speier also pushed for the passing of the Dream Act, which she said would “provide these deserving individuals with the status to live and thrive in the country legally.”
The Dream Act, which was passed in the US House of Representatives but failed to get the Senate’s vote in 2010, has been described as a bill that would “provide a pathway to citizenship for a select group of immigrant students with great potential to contribute more fully to the US.”
In the statement, Speier also described the young people affected by the new policy as people who “call America their home” but do not enjoy the American citizenship status enjoyed by their college roommates, basketball teammates, and next door neighbors.
Speier also added that the young immigrants could suffer from deportation at “any time to a country whose language they may not even know.”