USA TODAY International Edition
Reassure military families about deportation policies
Denise Leon is a native of Mexico who lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Her husband is overseas, serving in the U. S. military in a remote location.
Last fall, Leon signed up for a program called Parole in Place. The program, created under the George W. Bush administration, is designed to prevent the deportation of undocumented residents whose husbands, wives, sons or daughters are fighting overseas for the United States. But recent guidelines issued by the Trump administration created confusion over the future of Parole in Place — and fear about deportation for people like Denise Leon.
“I’m even more scared now because I can’t communicate with my husband ... he’s so far away,” she told the BBC last week. “I do everything legal. I don’t have any felonies. ( But) you’re just hanging by a thread saying, ‘ What am I going to do?’ ”
Her despair was the result of the administration’s reckless, hard- charging efforts to tighten the nation’s borders, which started with last month’s hastily drafted travel ban and continued with last week’s immigration enforcement directive.
The directive, signed by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a widely respected former Marine Corps general, swept away several exceptions to depor- tation. A few were kept, including the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as the “dreamers” program.
But Parole in Place was not explicitly exempted. Nor was another program called Deferred Action, which allows residents who wish to join the military but whose legal status is about to change — for example, because their student or work visas are about to expire — to legally remain in the USA until they’re shipped to basic training.
The U. S. military loves these programs because they keep troops from worrying about loved ones getting kicked out of the country or, in the case of Deferred Action, allow the recruitment of highly skilled people. Military studies show that noncitizens, particularly Hispanics, often make great soldiers.
To the relief of people like Denise Leon, the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued statements in recent days saying Parole in Place and Deferred Action will stay in effect. But military families remain frightened.
Without explicit written changes in the immigration order, lawyers are loath to recommend that clients sign up for Parole in Place. They have “concluded that it’s dangerous for people to go file their applications, because the ( original) memos indicate that they’re just going to round everybody up,” says Margaret Stock, an immigration lawyer and retired Army colonel who is an expert on Parole in Place.
There are two ways to reassure military families:
One is to slow down the rush to exclude or deport people and get things right, in writing, the first time.
The other is for Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis to call a news conference, stand together before the cameras, and declare that law- abiding spouses and children of brave U. S. servicemembers have nothing to fear.
How about it, generals?