Despite executive amnesty, many illegal immigrants still fear deportation

Despite executive amnesty, many illegal immigrants still fear deportation
(Image credit: Lexey Swall/Getty Images)

There are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants currently living in the U.S. While five million of them were recently shielded from deportation thanks to President Obama's executive action, that still leaves more than half of those living here illegally in danger of being kicked out.

Gay immigrants, other adults without children, those who arrived within the last five years, those whose children were born outside the U.S., and those with criminal records are ineligible for the benefits granted to the five million who qualify because they have been in the U.S. for at least five years and have a child that is either a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident.

Erika Almiron, executive director of Juntos, a non-profit Latino-immigrants' rights organization, said after Obama's amnesty announcement that there is concern for the rest of the illegal immigrants who didn't make the cut. "When we declare 'Not One More Deportation,'" she said, "we mean just that."

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Other advocacy groups have also pointed to the complexity inherent in some of the plan's arbitrary rules. Some, for example, are upset that Obama didn't grant amnesty to the parents of "Dreamers," unless their parents had another child born in the U.S., or have some other claim that would make them immune to deportation.

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Teresa Mull