Immigrants Worry They'll Face Deportation After Deferred Action Delay

"Bryan Johnson ... argued that his client was eligible for Obama's deferred action program for parents, which temporarily protected Ayala from deportation until the Texas court ruling put the program on hold.  Now, Johnson says he's not sure what will happen during their next appointment with immigration officials.  "I'm going to tell ICE that we're waiting for deferred action, and then from there, we'll see what happens," says Johnson, a partner at the immigration law firm Amoachi & Johnson.  "But I mean he's not safe because there is no deferred action to apply for."  In a statement, an ICE spokesperson says the agency is still focusing on deporting criminals and those who recently crossed the border illegally first — priorities that the president emphasized during a recent town hall meeting televised by MSNBC and Telemundo.  "If you've been here for a long time and if you qualify, generally, then during this period, even with legal uncertainty, they should be in a good place," Obama told the audience in Miami.  But Marty Rosenbluth, who teaches immigration law at Elon University, says that some local immigration offices have been applying the policy inconsistently and detaining parents who would have been left alone before the Texas court ruling.  "It's created a huge amount of fear and people who were preparing to apply now don't know what to do," he says.  Rosenbluth adds this could have a long-term impact on Obama's deferred action programs if the courts allow them to take effect.  (The government is still accepting applications for the original deferred action program for young immigrants who came before turning 16 and have lived in the U.S. since 2007).  "Convincing people that it's safe is going to be a lot tougher even if this temporary injunction is overturned," he says." - Hansi Lo Wong, NPR, Mar. 4, 2015.