Compiled by Maddie Peare, a Summer 2012 Leadership Conference Education Fund Intern
Young Immigrants, in America Illegally, Line Up for Reprieve
The New York Times
Julia Preston
In June, President Barack Obama used his executive authority to create a program that will allow young undocumented immigrants to apply for a temporary reprieve of deportation, which also comes with a work permit. As a result, 1.7 million undocumented immigrants will have the opportunity to work legally, obtain valid Social Security numbers and driver’s licenses, earn professional certificates, and apply for financial aid in college. Over the weekend, hundreds of immigrants brought their proof of residency documents to the offices of the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) to find out more information about the application process. Despite being open all day, the CHIRLA offices could not accommodate everyone who came in and hundreds were turned away at closing.
Dozens of ‘Innocent’ Prisoners Could be Freed
USA Today
Brad Heath
A USA Today investigation found that some people are currently imprisoned for something an appeals court later determined was not a federal crime and many do not know this. Previously, the Justice Department did not try to identify which prisoners were falsely convicted and argued that these innocent prisoners should remain imprisoned. However, the Justice Department has changed its position and the ACLU estimates that as many as 3,000 prisoners will be released or face shorter sentences.
Thanks for sharing both of these snippets from news articles. Both of these goes to show that we are trying to improve on our civil rights by allowing immigrants to apply for a temporary reprieve of deportation and freeing wrongfully imprisoned people. We know that civil rights have to be fought for in situations like the ones posted here.