Martin O’Malley Releases Immigration Plan

Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley announced what has been the most comprehensive plan for immigration reform yet seen by a Democratic hopeful this election season at a round table discussion in New York City in July. Speaking with eight members of the community, including Siobhan Dennehy, Executive Director of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, O’Malley said, “We are, and always have been, a nation of immigrants and our immigration laws must reflect our values,” adding that the current system is “callous, irrational, inhumane, and unjust.”
His eight-page reform plan proposed reforms to existing laws, such as rescinding the restriction on healthcare for undocumented immigrants, and easing restrictions that other laws impose, such as granting waivers to the three and ten-year bars on returning to the U.S. if a person has lived undocumented in the country before. O’Malley also said he would use immediate executive action to grant deportation relief to undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, people with strong family and community ties, have long-term residence in the U.S., and people who entered the United States before the age of 21. ♦