Illegal immigrants see hope and change in Obama action

The crowd of undocumented residents waved American flags, cheered and fought back tears as they watched President Obama give a speech they had waited for years to hear, offering them a chance to gain legal status to stay in the United States.

Marcela Campos cradled her 2-year-old son Abraham, who waved a small American flag, gazing up at Mr. Obama on the screen at a viewing party hosted by CASA, a major immigrant-rights group in Maryland and Virginia, at the group’s headquarters in Washington’s Maryland suburbs.

“Now I have hope,” said Ms. Campos, who came with her family from El Salvador nine years ago. “It’s going to change a lot. I can get a better job. I can go into the street unafraid. I’m afraid of getting deported.”

Ms. Campos’ son is a natural born U.S. citizen, but she said she feared being deported and being forced to take him back to El Salvador.

“It’s horrible there — gangs, extortion, kidnappings,” said Ms. Campos, whose time in the U.S. and her son’s citizenship make her eligible for Mr. Obama’s temporary amnesty. She said she works as a secretary and files income taxes every year.

Mr. Obama announced the executive action in a TV address. He will follow it up with a speech today in Las Vegas to detail his executive orders to improve border security, increase the number of visas of skilled foreign workers and provide legal status for millions of undocumented resents.

The crowd of about 70 people a the CASA watch party in Hyattsville, Maryland, were giddy about the opportunity Mr. Obama was offering them through an executive action that would grant some illegal immigrants legal status without legislation passed by Congress.

At the conclusion of Mr. Obama’s address, parents hugged their children and couples embraced.

Similar scenes played out at watch parties thrown by pro-immigrant groups across the country

CASA staged three other events across the region, while similar groups held events up down the East Coast.

In Mr. Obama’s home state of Illinois, immigrant rights activists and community leaders gathered to watch the TV address in Chicago.

Undocumented residents celebrated Mr. Obama’s announcement at gatherings across Colorado, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania.

They crowded viewing parties organized by pro-immigrant groups in at least five locations in Texas, including the North Texas Dream Team’s party in Dallas and a party hosted by United We Dream Houston.

The United Farm Workers of America hosted parties in nine California towns, including Fresno, Bakersfield, Salinas and Stockton.

UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, who met with the president Wednesday to discuss the executive actions, said he expected at least 250,000 farm workers nationwide would be eligible for deportation relief.

“The President committed to working with UFW to do everything possible to make sure that every farm worker who qualifies for the program gets enrolled, and we are prepared to work with him and Congress to finish the job by passing that fully addresses this issue once and for all,” said Mr. Rodriguez.

The immigrant-rights group Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) held a watch party at its LA headquarters and then bussed 30 activist to Las Vegas to attend Mr. Obama’s speech there Friday.

At CASA headquarters, organizers began the party by leading the crowd in a spirited chant of “s se puede,” the Spanish version of Mr. Obama’s campaign motto “yes we can.”

Adan Garcia, 38, a construction worker in the country illegally, called Mr. Obama’s announcement “a big step forward.”

“We are going to continue fighting to not be discriminated against,” says Mr. Garcia, who has been in the U.S. for 11 years and has an 8-year-old son, Juan, who is a U.S. citizen.

He said that Mr. Obama’s action answered his dreams visiting his home country of El Salvado and being able to legally return to America.

Gustavo Andrade, organizing director for CASA, called Mr. Obama’s action a “huge victory” not just for the estimated 5 million undocumented residents who could get legal status but also for their families, friends, coworkers and supporters around the world.

“It shows that when you organize and fight, democracy still works,” said Mr. Andrade, a former undocumented resident who became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

He said Mr. Obama, who has long disappointed the immigrant community on immigration, had redeemed himself. He said more than 300,000 illegal immigrants in Maryland, Virginia and the District will qualify for legal status under Mr. Obama’s action.

“I’m extremely happy he has chosen to listen to his better angels and voices from the community who have been fighting with him for many years to make this happen,” said Mr. Andrade.