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By MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Sonoma State University sophomore Sandy Valenciano was almost five years old when she and her older sister illegally crossed the Mexico-U.S. border in 1998 to be with their parents, both undocumented immigrants living in the East Bay.
Valenciano, now 18, remembers how she and her older sister, scared and anxious, crossed the border in Tijuana, posing as the U.S.-born children of a man their father had paid to get them across.
“I remember I brought a doll and my older sister brought a doll, and as we were crossing we couldn’t look back. We were scared,” she said. “I’ve lived with fear for all my life.”
Sandy Valenciano is an undocumented Sonoma State University student heading into her second year at the school. Valenciano, who came to the United States at the age of four with her sister who was eight, plans to work toward her Ph.D in psychology. (Crista Jeremiason / PD)
For Valenciano and hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children, that fear was lifted Friday when President Barack Obama announced they no longer would be threatened by deportation and would be able to obtain work permits.
The policy directive would halt deportations but not create an avenue for citizenship. Obama called it a “stop-gap” measure while Congress moves on the Dream Act, stalled legislation that would create a path toward citizenship for young undocumented immigrants who are students or have served in the military.
Obama’s announcement Friday resonated through the North Coast immigrant community, leaving many, especially students, in disbelief and even speechless.
Valenciano, who went to high school in the East Bay and now rents a room from a family in Rohnert Park because she can’t afford to live on campus at Sonoma State, is the first in her family to go to college.
Her goal is to earn a Ph.D in psychology and become a family therapist, and she hopes the new policy will create more opportunities to pay for college. Her father, a construction worker, has had difficulty finding work and her mother has worked at a fast-food restaurant for nearly 14 years.
“It literally feels like a dream and I’m just waiting to wake up from it,” said Valenciano, who is a member of the local Dream Alliance, a national student movement that has campaigned for passage of the Dream Act.
Julie Cyphers, a Healdsburg attorney who specializes in immigration law and also teaches immigration law at Empire College in Santa Rosa, said the new policy would grant “deferred action status” to those who qualify.
“That basically means that people who qualify would not be deported as long as they meet certain criteria,” she said.
Applicants must have entered the country before they turned 16; must either currently be enrolled in high school or be a high school graduate or GED recipient; must be under 30 when they apply; have been physically present in the United States for five years; and must pass a criminal background check.
“We’re talking about students, people who were brought here as children through no fault of their own,” Cyphers said.
The new policy would grant two-year work permits with the possibility of extending them, she said.
“It’s important that people understand that this is not in place,” Cyphers said, “and they should not submit any applications until further guidance is provided” by federal immigration officials.
That should happen in the next few weeks, she said.
Jesus Guzman, an organizer with the Dream Alliance of Sonoma County, said Dream Act supporters have pressured Obama to take action for two years. In recent weeks, immigration scholars have called on him to use his executive power, he said.
Guzman said it appears Obama has decided to take a political gamble by siding with immigrant rights supporters, many of whom had grown frustrated with his failure to enact a comprehensive immigration overhaul while at the same time stepping up deportations.
Going into the November election, Latino support for Obama was lukewarm, he said.
“He knew that with the election coming up he had to distinguish himself from Mitt Romney,” Guzman said. “This is a perfect issue to divide his position from Romney’s.”
However, a representative of a conservative North Coast group described Obama’s action as a “travesty and belittling” of the Constitution and a “serious breach” of the separation of presidential and congressional powers.
“The president acted more like a dictator than the president of a free country,” said Terry Tomasino of the North Bay Patriots.
“Immigration reform is needed and must be brought about through the well-defined processes delineated in our Constitution,” he said. “Any other attempt to force one’s desires will be highly divisive.”
North Coast immigration attorneys and scholars said the impact will be far-reaching.
Richard Coshnear, a Santa Rosa immigration attorney and member of the Committee for Immigrant Rights, Sonoma County, estimated that 1,000 or more young undocumented immigrants could be affected.
“He’s throwing a bone, though it’s a pretty big bone,” Coshnear said. “It’s not comprehensive immigration reform, but it will help a substantial part of the community.”
Roberto G. Gonzales, a sociologist at the University of Chicago who has done extensive research on undocumented children, said the president’s action takes an enormous pressure off students who are Americans in every other way but their immigration status.
“A lot of young people in our community are growing up and coming of age at a time when their day-to-day life is saturated with the threat and fear of being picked up and deported,” he said.
Gonzalez said that undocumented students graduate “from a place like Sonoma State and even get advanced degrees but are not able to get a job that matches their qualifications.”
Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo said Obama’s move will encourage undocumented students to finish their studies.
“At a time when we’re seeing this demographic boom, particularly among Latino youth, we should do everything in our power to encourage higher education and education in general,” he said.
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It’s true that the only job many of the field workers have is field work. The issue here BEAR is not allowing the illegals to come into this country anymore. There has to be a documentation process instead of let one illegal in, and three follow without being seen(allegedly) I’m tired of paying my hard earned dollars in taxes for a government that quite frankly isn’t doing its job at the border, and receiving direction all the way from the top.
By the way, I grow my own vegetables and fruit!
If I as an American citizen commit a crime I doubt a judge would be sympathetic to my argument that incarceration would unfairly punish my children for crimes they did not commit, even though that is undoubtedly true. So if this argument rightly holds no sway when forwarded by a citizen, why is it a trump card when played by a non-citizen?
The fact of the matter is that these kids have already been rewarded for the illegal actions of their parents, obtaining a free (to them) world-class education, free medical care, free lunch (and now breakfast), food stamps and other social services. Now we are told we must allow them to use these ill-gotten gains to compete for jobs with the children of the victims of this fraud.
We truly are down the rabbit hole.
At least the President’s actions remove any immunity from lawsuits the Federal government normally enjoys when making discretionary decisions. Since Obama, the top executive branch officer, has decided in advance how discretionary decisions are to be made, it opens to the door to legal action to victims of crimes perpetrated by illegals. The Federal Government is a deep pocket and as soon as a drunk driver illegal kills someone again – or maybe something worse – there will be a massive big-money lawsuit. Your tax money at work. No summer jobs this year people – except for the lawyers!
This article only touches a very small portion of the problems this country faces not only now, but has so in the past.
The individuals who receive free lunches at schools, the food stamp programs,corruption in our own government whether it be in the local, city, state, or the government of the united states
Let’s not forget the individuals who corrupt their employment, or shall I say former employment to leave that particular job on LTD status only to continue receiving benefits while “faking”, yes faking their supposed injuries.
You have to ask yourself, are you really happy with all of this going on? Are you concerned? Are you happy with yourself, or do you see this as someone else’s problem because someone else should be overseeing all of this. Unfortunately this will not be going away anytime soon. If you see something that’s bothering you, question it. Become involved, or goodness know’s what we will be leaving for our children down the road.
Oh and yes by the way, I’m voting very differently in November
@Vinyl,
Actually it is a crime to cross our border and remain in the country undocumented (U.S. Code, Title 8, sections 1325 et al) punishable by criminal fines and up to six months incarceration.
This is purely political, and quite distinct from Reagan’s amnesty program. Reagan negotiated with the House and Senate and agreed to the amnesty bill, which was passed in both and signed by him, in order to obtain other things regarding taxes and the economy. This president basically decided that he would alter enforcement policy, bypassing both the House and the Senate. While I’m sure many will point out that we live in different times with a ineffective legistature, that doesn’t change the distinctions of their actions.
And, Reagan’s amnesty didn’t work, so why do it again??? It was a bandaid at best for a problem that needs addressing in a way that maintains our borders and the value of citizenship, while making immigration possible, otherwise what’s the point.
We all often suffer negatively for a decision a parent makes, that in and of itself isn’t a reasonable basis to circumevent a law IMHO. Many people who cross our border do so not to become a American, but because they want the resources present here not present in their country of birth, and many aren’t just from south of the border (although a majority may be). Many are from African, Asian and Indian countries. What’s most interesting is a comparison of the stats regarding naturalization and deportation. We naturalize a large number of people from a large variety of countries, but the largest amount of naturalized citizens per their stats comes from Mexico and Canada. Interestly, the largest number of deported also hail from Mexico. It’s interesting to me that one country is so blantanly ahead of all the others in both areas statistically. Altough, I’m not confident that the Dept. of Homeland security maintains great stats either???
Also of interest was that for the last six to eight years we’ve maintained a fairly consistant number of deportations, so both Bush and Obama where deporting people at a similiar rate (when comparing to the estimated total population). They don’t seem to maintain any well detailed stats on how many employers they investigate, fine or prosecute though for employing illegal labor, another interesting thing?
The bottom line for me however, is that if you want to become a U.S citizen, then do it legally, learn our laws, language and customs. I don’t believe as a country it does us any good to give away something which so many others have had to earn, merely for political advantage, i.e. votes, not matter which party does it. And if someone is just here for the work/money than that needs to handled differently. It also fails to acknowledge the value of what it is you are giving and assumes that all those who come here, do so for one purpose. Many who come here don’t want to be citizens, so much as they want whatever resources we will offer, which is why they never bother to learn our languague, laws or customs. It’s sad really because as far as I can see he’s only created more division and frankly continued a sterotype that immigrants can’t or won’t be able to either follow the current law or change it for themselves.
I think we need some clarification: Crossing the US border without proper authorization is not a crime. It is a civil offense, like a speeding ticket. Therefore, when undocumented or ” illegal” immigrants are referred to as criminals, that is an inaccurate label. Robbing a bank is a crime. Crossing our border is not. Continue on nativists…
Oh sure Boreock, why don’t you just set them up in a cozy $495,000 3 bedroom 2 bath house in a very desireable neighborhood of their choice and let the rest of the struggling American people just sink to the bottom of the pool. Again,Boreock is using one of his sneaky(although not that much of a surprise anymore) style politic antics to win the White House through votes of the hispanic or minority individuals. Why would they turn down an offer like that, their fault or not. Why don’t you just offer their offspring a tuition free education to the college of their choice as well. If I was in their shoes you would get my vote also.
Obama has again broken the oath he took when he became President. “To protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”
The Constitution says that duly enacted laws of the United States shall be observed. But in Obama’s case it means that he can ignore those that he and his liberal allies wish to ignore.
Immigration such as Arizona’s policies have come under attack by Obama’s Justice Department. Voters laws such as Florida wanting go clean up their rolls have come under attack by the same Justice Department. Time and time again Obama has trampled the Constitution to gain his agenda, and the liberal media lets him get away with it. And if you don’t think this was done to entice the Latino community to vote for him, let me sell you a bridge.
Thomas Brooks-Obama has put more money and people into border security than any other president. Look it up. A year back the Republicans wanted to cut the funding-it was listed in that $63B they wanted to cut out of the budget. Reagan gave them amnesty. Romney wants “volunteer” deportation (how STUPID is this idea-another one among many), many immigrants are leaving the country because the jobs aren’t here. The rich corporations and farms are still hiring illegals and don’t get punished for it.
Those kids grew up here, we have invested in their growth and eduction and they will be productive TAX PAYING AMERICANS. Some of them don’t even speak Spanish. It would be foolish to throw that investment away.
Liberals are truly the hands down masters of the con.
The report on the BBC (among many others) referred to Mitt (what can I do to get you into this car today) Romney as “Anti Immigration”
And the sheeple will gulp down the kool-aid, head to the polls and re-elect the “pro-immigration” candidate.
Has it ever occurred to any of you intellectuals that if you have to play upon people’s stupidity and trick them into supporting your cause, maybe there’s a problem with your cause?
Video says it all:
http://news.yahoo.com/shock-video-obama-admits-t-did-today-033218997.html
@ John
O.K.,so it’s about money(isn’t it always?)
Then I have a solution,
A 20% “Bleeding Heart Surcharge” on all liberals tax forms,to pay for the Social Justice that Ms.Valenciano is so entitled to.
Because,after all,the Valenciano family income is needed for their “stuff”(entertainment,Ipod,smartphone,clothes,etc.)The Gov’t however,is responsible for her “needs”(Higher Education,health care,contraception,etc.)
That way,YOU can put YOUR money where YOUR mouth is.
Sound fair?
Why are we having this in the news? It’s like pure propaganda. What we are suppose to pity these poor illegal immigrants who violated our laws and sneaked across the border. This country is going to “Hell and Hand-basket” with all of the illegal immigrants and the resources they take but never paid into that could be used for your sons and daughters or to at the least for the citizens that paid into the system. Whatever happened to a government
for the people not corporations.
No one wants to punish children for the crimes of their fathers.
The fact remains that we are a nation of laws and a nation with borders. A government that will not enforce both with enthusiasm lacks credibility. When those who break our laws are given preference (or preference for their children) over those who patiently work within the system’s rules, a different and worse type of discrimination is taking place. As long as our nation limits immigration, it is our solemn obligation to allocate the precious resource of American opportunity equitably and uniformly. Until we formally open our borders for unlimited immigration we must limit immigration fairly under the law in the interest of everyone and their children.
800,000 unemployed Americans now have 800,000 less chances of obtaining a job.
Open border Obama is trying another one of his down field passes to gain a few votes.
This directive flies in the face of the laws passed by Congress. It is a cheap trick and one which will meet with a flurry of law suits.
Obama is constantly going through the back door instead of Congress to get his way on immigation issues.
People see this for what it is, a cheap political trick.
@JDS
So I guess you put your money where your mouth is and don’t buy any ag products or go to fast food restaurants, etc.? You wouldn’t want to support the illegals, right?
Did conservatives make such a big stink when their god Ronald Reagan granted amnesty to people back in the day? Was he accused of being a dictator and trampling all over the Constitution?
The Obamabots should throw it back in conservative’s faces and say they stole the move from Ronnie’s playbook.
My own view is that we’ve already made an investment in these kids, let’s keep them, since most will become good productive citizens.
Skippy – Obama won’t deport illegals!? What do you call 400,000 a year? And the illegals voting is a myth. Sure, let me risk deportation so I can vote…give me a break!
“Mitt Romney’s “voluntary self-deportation” sounds idiotic.”
Only to those with no knowledge of history or natural consequences.
Examples: the endless Obama recession has actually reversed the flow of illegals. They are leaving, apparently because Americans are now doing “the jobs Americans won’t do”.
: In the 1950′s, President Eisenhower announced a Federal program of deportation of illegal aliens. Hundreds of thousands headed south rather than face the shame of deportation. All he did was say it would be policy. No forced deportations were necessary, as the illegals knew Ike would do exactly what he said he would.
Which brings us to today. Mitt should simply do the same and then start the busses rolling. Obama won’t since the Democrats need illegal voters to win elections. Just ask Florida or Georgia about trying to clean out bogus voters from the rolls.
Either laws mean something or they don’t.
For Obama, they mean what he wants them to mean.
This is a blatant election-stealing tactic. Vote for Obama and Democrats or go home.
Revolutions have started for less.
Time for our own Arab Spring.
What we’ve become is the result of big and small business hiring illegals in violation of the law. Over decades.
WTF did you expect to happen? Most of the ag industry in CA depends on this source of labor, including all the wonderful vineyards. Not to mention the pot grows financed by cartels, not locals.
Can we not support local growers and deport the rest?
If you want to get serious on this issue, find another way. Mitt Romney’s “voluntary self-deportation” sounds idiotic.
I’m curious as to how Ms.Valenciano’s college is being paid for…I have a hunch.
So if you’re a child “brought here by no fault of your own”,you get subsidized college and a president that will subvert our laws and constitution on your behalf.
Under this logic,if her parents had robbed a bank,she should get to keep the money.
No doubt the children here are sympathetic figures caught in a legal status not of their making. They are also, however, pawns to be exploited by those who wish to undermine our immigration laws.
Raids of employers who hire illegal immigrants are wrong . . . . . because they disrupt families and frighten children. That is, concern for children should also grant a pass to adults who break the law. It never ends. Enforcing our immigration laws is, and always will be in the eyes of some, immoral.
At some point the strategy is obvious. And that only a few months ago Obama declared he had no power to do by executive order what he just did, this craven and cynical political act screams out for better, and more balanced, coverage that the PD seems capable of.
We live in an era where any president can create law out of thin air if it’s “the right thing to do.” That’s a caesarean democracy. It’s the last stage of a broken system that’s falling apart.
By the way, right now, an American citizen (probably hispanic)somewhere in this state didn’t get that seat she’s sitting in. It pays to be a foreign citizen in a dying democracy doesn’t it.
This is a pattern. Bush was making his caesarian dictates and now this guy is making his. Conservatives gave a pass to Bush and liberals give a pass to Obama, but each is outraged when the other side does it. It’s disgusting what we’e become.