Mini Dream Act Rolls Out in Los Angeles

Congress failed to pass the so-called “Dream Act,” granting citizenship to illegal immigrants brought to this country as children and raised as Americans. But President Obama ordered a temporary reprieve from deportation. Undocumented people under 31 with no criminal records can apply for two-year delays. Out of an estimated 1.4 potentially qualified nationwide, about 400,000 live in Southern California. The program starts tomorrow, and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles is already seeing long lines of young people. Outside the office, Saul Gonzalez talked with Marcela Rodriguez, who drove to LA from Corona. Her mother brought here to the US when she was just a year old, and Saul asked what a change in status would mean for her life and her education plans.