House Republicans Want to Change 2008 Deportation Law

Link - http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/29/house-bill-speed-deportations-illegal-children/
Date - July 29, 2014


Summary - Republicans in the House introduced a bill that would change a 2008 law that allowed illegal immigrant children not from Canada and Mexico a legal hearing.  The 2008 law was part of an attempt to protect youth involved in sex trafficking.  Democrats have asked for more money to deal with the crisis, but 2/3rds of Americans support the idea of sending children back to Central America more quickly.  In fact,  President Obama initially supported the idea of changing the law, but was quickly convinced by immigrants' rights groups to not openly support drastic changes.  Democrats focus their criticism on the inability of Republicans in the House to pass Immigration Reform that would offer a path to citizenship.  One interesting issue is that smugglers have convinced many immigrants that the 2008 law will allow children the time to establish a foothold in the country.  President Obama does have some power as president to increase or decrease deportations and is under pressure from both sides.

Question - What are the main ideas of Republicans and Democrats on the immigration crisis?

Young Immigrants Must Risk Deportation for Chance to Gain Legal Status

Link- http://www.latimes.com/nation/immigration/lana-immigration-law-20140803-story.html#page=1
Date- August 3, 2014 

Summary - Since October of 2013 roughly 57,000 unaccompanied minors have crossed into the United States.  Many of these immigrants are detained and given court dates to see if they can qualify for a special status in order to stay in the country. Current U.S. law promises a court date before being deported, but does not guarantee legal representation.  There are many free services and immigrants with family members already in the U.S. usually have means to help secure representation.  However, 30% of these youths do not show up for their court dates and are often then given deportation orders.  In fact, 47% of youths with legal representation have been allowed to stay, while only 10% of those without representation end up receiving permission to stay.  A group advocating for immigrants' rights filed an injunction (legal attempt to stop a practice) against deporting youth without legal representation.  The current push from the federal government is to speed up these trials, with the assumed goal being to speed up deportations.

Question - How is the legal status for undocumented immigrants different from the legal status of citizens and what is the effect (see Oscar's story in article)?