"DREAMERS" AND THE DREAM ACT: Immigration Law Update

President Barack Obama announced in the White House Rose Garden on Friday, June 15th, 2012 that, effective immediately, his administration will not deport younger illegal (undocumented) immigrants who came to the United States as children and who do not pose a security threat the to U.S.

Consequently, the Department of Homeland Security is taking steps to ensure that young, undocumented immigrants who were brought here as children by their parents, and who have followed the law since then, will be able to request temporary relief from deportation proceedings -- and will be allowed to apply for authorization to work in this country.

These young immigrants are collectively a group that have come to be called the "Dreamers" and President Obama's new rules provide much of the relief this group wants despite the setback the Dream Act suffered in late 2010 when it was blocked by Republicans in the U.S. Senate.

[WSJ, Sat/Sun., 2012, pp. A1 & A5; my.barackobama.com/Dreamers]