Syria, the country that has been experiencing much turbulence, is likely to push immigration reform to the back burner. Syria has been fighting a civil war and it has also used forbidden chemical weapons on innocent people. All the nations have condemned these actions as the governments of several foreign countries have passed a treaty forbidding the use of chemical weapons.
Most of the lawmakers in the United States say that something must be done about Syria as this is a big and an important issue. This issue might put immigration reform to the back burner.
Only 28 percent of the voters believe that immigration reform will be passed by the end of this year and that a comprehensive bill will be signed into law by President Obama. More than 58 percent of the voters believe that immigration reform will not pass and that the government will not take steps to secure the country’s borders.
Meanwhile, President Obama is proving that he will use his power to grant the undocumented immigrants amnesty. In the last year he implemented deferred action, a program that permits certain eligible undocumented youth to stay in America legally for two years and study and work here legally. He recently issued a directive that requires the law enforcement authorities to avoid placing undocumented parents of minor children in removal proceedings and that prevents the authorities from deporting such undocumented immigrants.
Syria’s civil war is threatening to consume the time the US Congress has allocated to deal with the budget clash. Lawmakers, after the summer recess, will return to reconvene Congress on 9th September. Immigration advocates are already worried as they believe that the limited number of days will not be sufficient for the lawmakers to pass an immigration reform bill that would benefit the country’s undocumented immigrants, US employers, and the Americans. This Syria issue is now likely to push immigration reform into November or to the following year and this issue is already causing disruptions.
According to Amnesty International, Sweden is granting asylum to refugees from Syria. The Migration Board of Sweden has stated that is will grant permanent resident status to the Syrians seeking asylum in Sweden.