Recently an undated USCIS draft memorandum surfaced. The Memo was offering administrative relief options to promote family unity, foster economic growth, achieve significant process improvements, and reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization. Here is the entire memo for our readers to view:
Shortly after the memo leaked to the public the Immigration service had this to say:
“Internal draft memos do not and should not be equated with official action or policy of the Department. We will not comment on notional, pre-decisional memos. As a matter of good government, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will discuss just about every issue that comes within the purview of the immigration system. We continue to maintain that comprehensive bipartisan legislation, coupled with smart, effective enforcement, is the only solution to our nation’s immigration challenges.
Internal memoranda help us do the thinking that leads to important changes; some of them are adopted and others are rejected. Our goal is to implement policies wisely and well to strengthen all aspects of our mission. The choices we have made so far have strengthened both the enforcement and services sides of USCIS – nobody should mistake deliberation and exchange of ideas for final decisions. To be clear, DHS will not grant deferred action or humanitarian parole to the nation’s entire illegal immigrant population.”
What can we learn from all this? Comprehensive immigration reform may not happen in the near future, but some sort of a step by step change is likely to occur sooner than later. Even USCIS is eager for this to happen, expect more “leaks” coming up.