McFeatters: Give young illegal immigrants a break

Based on early returns, the Obama administration's plan to grant residency and work permits to illegal immigrants brought here as youngsters is a success.

Thousands have signed up for training and information sessions -- 5,000 alone at one session in Chicago -- and they have flocked to sending countries' embassies to apply for the passports and documents they'll need to show U.S. officials. Wednesday was the first day the young illegal immigrants could apply. In Washington, the line at the Honduran consulate stretched around the block Tuesday.

As many as 1.7 million could be eligible, the Migration Policy Institute and Pew Hispanic Center said. The Associated Press cited internal Department of Homeland Security documents estimating 1.04 million would apply in the first year, with 890,000 accepted.

The clumsily named Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program covers illegal immigrants now age 15 to 31 who: were brought to the U.S. before age 16; have lived here continuously for five years; have no serious criminal convictions; are enrolled in or have completed high school or have served in the U.S. military. On Tuesday, the administration eased the requirement to include those in GED or certain job-training programs. It costs $465 to apply.

The successful applicant gets a two-year work permit and legal residency. Unlike the stalled DREAM Act, it is not a path to citizenship.

The program outrages opponents, mainly Republicans. "With unemployment at 8.3 percent, it's unconscionable that the Obama administration's amnesty program actually requires illegal immigrants to apply for work authorization in the U.S.," said Rep.

Lamar Smith of Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

That mistakenly assumes temporarily legal immigrants can simply walk into jobs unavailable to Americans. But illegal immigrants appeal to employers because they must work off the books and can't complain about employer violations of wage and hour laws. Beneficiaries of this program who are caught violating U.S. laws lose their protected status and face deportation.

Republicans who want to paint Obama as soft on immigration ignore the fact that his administration has deported record numbers of illegal immigrants in each of the last three years and that he's on course to deport more people in one term than the presumably tougher George W. Bush did in two.

This immigration plan is imperfect. But, in contrast to mass roundups, expulsions and a new Iron Curtain on our southern border, it shows that we are a humane people with a certain generosity of spirit in the land of opportunity.

Dale McFeatters is a senior writer for the Scripps Howard News Service.