The U.S. Immigration Mambo

Last week, immigrants seeking legal status were disappointed to hear that a Texas judge stopped Obama’s immigration action in its tracks with a legal maneuver called a “temporary injunction,” just one day before parts of his plan were to go into effect. It’s the latest step in a dance Maria Hinojosa likes to call the “U.S. immigration mambo.” Here’s how you dance it: just like the real mambo, you take two steps forward (The Senate passes an immigration bill in 2013); then take a spin and take two steps back (but the House refuses to vote on it.) Then in 2014 Obama says he’s open to fixing immigration through executive action — but wait, just a few months later he says executive action is off the table. When the executive action finally comes, it gets blocked the day before immigrants can go and sign up for protected status. All this back-and-forth can put immigrants in a difficult situation where it’s very hard to find stable ground and plan for the future. Just when they think there’s a way to regularize their status, the rug gets pulled out from other them. How can they trust the U.S. government enough to sign up for these programs? Angela Fernandez, a laywer and director of Northern Manhattan Coalition For Immigrant Rights, a non-profit advocacy center and legal clinic, join Maria Hinojosa to discuss the human cost of this “immigration mambo.”