The AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the U.S., released a memo on Monday outlining steps that the Obama administration can take to alleviate the burden of immigration enforcement on immigrant workers and families in the absence of congressional action on comprehensive reform.
The memo, titled Recommendation on Administrative Action on Immigration, calls on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take four concrete steps: grant work permits to undocumented immigrants; reclaim federal authority over enforcement policy from the states; reform the removal process; and protect undocumented workers who file workplace grievances.
President Barack Obama has resisted calls to unilaterally reform immigration policy, insisting instead that comprehensive reform should come from Congress. But legislation has reached an impasse in the House of Representatives, despite Speaker John Boehner claiming that he is “hell-bent” on passing reform this year. As a result, reform advocates are increasingly pointing to executive action as the only way to slow the rate of deportation, which, under President Obama, has been higher than under any previous president.
The memo was released at the same time that the new secretary of DHS, Jeh Johnson, is conducting an internal review of immigration enforcement policies and considering limiting deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who don’t have serious criminal records.
