The Obama administration recently announced that it is lightening the pressure on low-priority deportation / removal cases, allowing certain undocumented immigrants to stay in the United States and eventually apply to work here.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stated that the move will allow the Department of Homeland Security to focus immigration resources (including the immigration courts) on more important cases, such as deportation cases involving undocumented immigrants with criminal records. According to Napolitano, the low-priority cases clog "immigration court dockets and divert DHS enforcement resources away from individuals who pose a threat to public safety."

Currently, there are so many cases in immigration court that it can take months - even years - for immigration judges to hear a deportation case.

The administration will begin a case-by-case review of those currently facing removal. Low-priority cases will likely include military spouses, individuals brought into the U.S. as children, and immigrants without criminal records.

This decision follows a June memo by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton. The memo described the discretion ICE prosecutors have when making decisions in immigrant deportation cases. Morton told agents to consider the length of time someone has been in the U.S., the status of family members and the immigrant's criminal history, among other things.

According to the Wall Street Journal, more than 390,000 nondocumented immigrants were deported last year.

Source: Wall Street Journal, U.S. Alters Policy on Deporting Immigrants