Till I.C.E. Do Us Part

In ICE's Chicago area of responsibility, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin, 57 percent of those deported between 2008 and 2011-more than 25,000 immigrants-received "fast-track" deportations, according to an analysis by The Chicago Reporter. Nationally, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a data-collection project run out of Syracuse University, estimates that 1 in 3 deported immigrants never make it to court, but rather are packed off through an "expedited removal." Advocates are now pushing for an executive order by President [Obama], who promised in late June to "do as much as I can, on my own, without Congress" on immigration. The extent of Obamas power-or his will-to provide deportation relief are unclear, but one option would be to give immigrants already in the country the same path to c that the Senate bill would have. That might come too late for [Brigido Acosta Luis], since the bills relief doesn't apply to those already deported. If the president wanted to go further, he could issue a family reunification order, which would allow deported parents without serious criminal records, like Acosta, to return. For their part, Acosta and [Maria Paz Perez] have put major decisions on hold while Acosta fights for reconsideration of his case through immigration appeals courts. If the appeal fails, they will have to decide whether the whole family will move to Mexico or live apart until Acosta is able to apply for entry to the United States in 10 years. It is hard to imagine staying in Schaumburg, but Perez thinks that her family would have few economic and educational opportunities in Mexico.