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Interviews with news makers and discussion of topics important to Southwest Michigan. Subscribe to the podcast through Apple itunes and Google. Segments of interview are heard in WestSouthwest Brief during Morning Edition and All Things Considered

WSW: Uncertainty Over Immigration

Michigan United

President Obama issued an executive order last year to shield some undocumented immigrants from deportation. But a federal judge has issued an injunction holding up that order, and Congress is at a standoff over the President's action. Some Republicans want to hold up funding to the Department of Homeland Security. Susan Reed, Lead Attorney for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center in Kalamazoo, says it helps to create more confusion around the issue of immigration. 

  

Reed says she thinks that the litigation was filed in part to create confusion about immigration policy. She says it's opened the door to scam artists who promise help with staying in the country legally. Reed says most legal  advocates believe that the injunction won't stand. 

President Obama's executive order applies mainly to children who have been here since they were very young and parents of children born in the United States. Reed says that's a narrow expansion. She says not all immigrants eligible may apply. They have to pay an attorney for processing. And Reed says since the program is temporary, by coming forward immigrants could put themselves as risk of deportation if the policy is changed later. Reed says parents of young children especially fear being separated from their family. She says many of those families are desperate for more certainty and security.  

susanreed022515-web.mp3
Interview with Susan Reed - web version

Asked about broad-based immigration reform, Reed says the 1986 bill that President Ronald Reagan signed into law was very successful. She says there was a false belief that making it illegal to work in the United States without legal status and granting amnesty to people who had come previously would take away the incentive for undocumented immigration. Reed says while there is a "pull factor" that brings people to the country. She says the "push" away from other economies brings people to the United States.

Reed says there is broad support on the basics of immigration reform. She says the bill that passed in the Senate last year would have passed in the House if it had been brought up for a vote. Reed says there are some differences in the details over issues such a path to citizenship. 

Gordon Evans became WMUK's Content Director in 2019 after more than 20 years as an anchor, host and reporter. A 1990 graduate of Michigan State, he began work at WMUK in 1996.
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