Montgomery, AL – Alabama immigration activists are praising the Obama administration's decision to quit deporting many younger illegal immigrants.
The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice says the change announced Friday is a step in the right direction.
Coalition member and recent high school graduate Victor Palafox says he is in the country illegally after being brought to the United States from Mexico by his parents as a child. Palafox says the administration's announcement is an ``enormous victory'' for young people across the country.
Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions disagrees and calls the change ``backdoor amnesty.'' He says the administration is purposely ignoring the will of Congress.
The administration says it will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who arrived in the country children and have led law-abiding lives.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)