Last week the immigration activists met up with the Department of Homeland Security Chief and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director – and some concerns were brought up.

The Enforcement Director had said that it would be beneficial for Congress to pass a law requiring the police to hold immigrants for ICE, a statement that came as a great shock to those who followed the issue, since the administration had spent a lot of time trying to repair relations with localities that resisted detaining people on ICE’s behalf. ICE soon reversed these remarks from the Director, issuing a statement stating that such legislation would only be counter-productive. But the Director stated that she was surprised that her comments had caused concern and she tried to counter them.

The Obama administration has tried to work a lot on immigration reform. In the month of November a new deportation relief program for parents of U S citizens and legal permanent residents was announced. The expansion of an existing program too was done, that allowed some undocumented immigrants who came to the U S as children to stay, work and reside on a permanent basis. All these programs however, are on hold because of a court injunction. But all ICE officers, agents and attorneys have been asked to evaluate all cases on an individualized basis throughout the immigration process.