Law Office of Matthew I. Hirsch provides summary of President Obama’s Executive Action on Immigration

On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced a series of steps intended to implement changes in U.S. immigration policy. The Executive Action, as it is called, involves an expansion of prosecutorial discretion, a broadening of existing policies and the use of regulatory authority to realign priorities relating to immigration enforcement. The Executive Action covers a number of topics, including the implementation of new strategies for border enforcement, new policies for deportation of criminals, gang members and threats to national security, a widening of the mini-DREAM Act and a new “deferred action” plan for parents of U.S. citizens.  Other  topics covered by the Executive Action are aimed at family unification, “specialized knowledge” workers, entrepreneurs, military families and process improvements.

While these are interim steps and partial measures awaiting more comprehensive legislation from Congress, they are intended to use the power of the Presidency to help [email protected] some of the more compelling problems with our “broken” immigration system. Our summary of the President’s Executive Action on Immigration is available here. The American Immigration Council’s summary of the Executive Action is available here. For questions on the Executive Action or legislative proposals to “fix” immigration, contact us.