Why some illegal immigrants aren’t celebrating Obama’s new policy

Their concerns center on how Obama’s order will be carried out. The new policy pushes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to approve “deferred deportations” for undocumented immigrants who are age 30 or under, arrived in the US before age 16, have lived in the US for at least five years, have no criminal record, and are either in school or the military or have a high school diploma.

Once they have received a deferred deportation order, qualifying immigrants can apply for a two-year work permit. Youths who are under deportation orders can also ask for deferred action in order to apply for the permits.

The catch, says Mr. Rico, is that ICE still holds the authority – Obama is only asking it to defer deportations. So far, the agency that has to some extent stonewalled the president’s previous calls to go easy on younger Latino immigrants. ICE deported a record 396,906 people during fiscal year 2011.

Obama has already attempted to rein in ICE. Last August, for example, he asked it to deport only the worst and most hardened criminals. But many undocumented immigrants do not trust the agency, and that might prevent them from coming “out of the shadows,” as Sen. Richard Durbin (D) of Illinois put it, to apply for a deferral.