Obama rescues undocumented immigrants

Zunu Zunaid, a Bangladeshi young man, had come to Kansas in U.S.A. on a student visa in 1994 to study petroleum engineering. Twenty-eight people had taken him to Dhaka airport when he was leaving Bangladesh for America, a goodbye befitting an only son who excelled in his tests and earned a chance to study in an American university. But during his junior year, his father ran out of money and stopped paying his tuition. So, Zunaid had dropped out of school and started working at Best Buy, a famous American chain store for electronics, computers, appliances, etc. He subsequently became manager of a Best Buy store earning US$ 60,000 a year.
In 2009 Zunaid was pulled over by police for 'driving under influence' (DUI); he began his procession toward deportation, as he was then an undocumented immigrant.
One night in 2011 Zunaid met Madina Salaty, a pretty white American girl with blonde hair, at a bar. A preschool teacher, Salaty felt enamoured of Zunaid, a tall and handsome boy, who used to call everybody "buddy". They fell in love and got happily married. Zunaid told Salaty before marriage that he was undocumented and facing deportation, but she said it didn't matter. "We can deal with it", she told him. But she was terribly wrong.
Zunaid was finally deported to Bangladesh on May 17, 2014, after 20 years of his living in the United States, leaving his wife in tears. Salaty has been shattered. She has been suffering from insomnia, as she can't bear the unravelling of their happy conjugal life, for no fault of her own but just owing to shortage of a piece of paper that her husband lacked. She left no stone unturned - from talking with her congresswoman to meeting activists and working with a lobbying group - to stop her beloved husband from being deported.
The poignant story of their heart-wrenchingly forced separation under US Immigration Law was published in The Washington Post on May 24, 2014 and has been republished in the current American edition of Reader's Digest in November.
Like Zunaid, there are about 11 million foreigners, including thousands of Bangladeshis, living some kind of otherworldly life in the United States, as they are undocumented immigrants.
Last Thursday (November 20), fortune smiled on millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States as President Obama in his prime time television speech announced that more than four million illegal immigrants will have a chance to apply for work permits and a temporary reprieve from deportation. The plan, which President Obama is going to sign officially in an executive order, will benefit those people who have been in the United States for at least five years and are parents of American citizens or legal permanent residents. A million more undocumented immigrants would be benefited through other new and expanded programmes.
"If you've been in America for more than five years; if you have children who are American citizens or legal residents; if you register, pass a criminal background check, and you're willing to pay your fair share of taxes - you'll be able to apply to stay in this country temporarily, without fear of deportation. You can come out of the shadows and get right with the law. But if you're a criminal, you'll be deported. If you plan to enter the U.S. illegally, your chances of getting caught and sent back just went up." - Mr. Obama said while describing his executive action.
Those who will be deported, President Obama said in an emotional tone, are "felons, not families, criminals, not children, gang members, not a mom who's working hard to provide for her kids".
All Americans know that mass deportation of undocumented immigrants is an expensive, impractical, and inefficient policy. President Obama's action therefore to help the undocumented immigrants work in America and blend with Americans is fully justified.
Democrats are more or less united on immigration, while Republicans are split. Most Americans say the undocumented should be allowed to stay although there are deep disagreements about what conditions they should have to meet to win legal residency or citizenship. Half of Americans say that unauthorised immigrants should be allowed to stay in the United States and eventually apply for citizenship. Thirteen per cent say they should be allowed to stay legally but not allowed to apply for citizenship. Thirty-two per cent say they should be required to leave the country.
President Obama from the day one has been sincere to make immigration reform through legislative measures. But political gridlock has made it impossible to resolve the immigration problem finally.
Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress always look for ways to block implementation of any Obama policy, whether it is about healthcare, immigration, or environment. They are against whatever is proposed by President Obama on most of the national issues.
The Republicans have already criticised Obama's move on immigration as presidential overreach. They are now accusing Obama of abusing his executive power and have pledged to mobilise legislative or legal measures to try to stop his action to award relief to the undocumented immigrants. Some GOP lawmakers are even contemplating to file a lawsuit, challenging the constitutionality of Mr. Obama's action. Others are suggesting withholding funding for other parts of the president's agenda.
It is unfortunate on the part of the Republicans to term President's action as unconstitutional and illegal. The actions Democrat President Obama has been taking to ameliorate the sufferings of the immigrants are not only lawful they are the kinds of actions taken by every single Republican President and every single Democrat President for the past half century. This is not the first time an American President has been compelled to issue an executive order to solve a burning issue, bypassing the Congress.
No other country in the world is as gracious and as hospitable to immigrants as the United States has always been. For more than 200 years it has been the American tradition to welcome immigrants from around the world for which this country has gained tremendous advantage over other nations. Immigrants have kept America energetic, vibrant, and entrepreneurial.
By allowing the illegal immigrants to stay and work in America President Obama would relieved millions of people from passing days and nights in fear and terror. He has lighted a bright beacon for the millions to pursue the American Dream.

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