"It's a miracle"

From ColorLines:

Manuel Guerra Casas was 14 days away from his last immigration hearing. As the days inched closer to his September 1 hearing date, he was running out of legal options. Guerra, who’s undocumented, had been the victim of an immigration scam years ago. An unscrupulous notario had promised to help him get work authorization. The papers never materialized, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement did.

Yesterday, ICE called his attorney to tell him they’d dropped his case. The phone call came on the same day that the Obama administration announced that it would review its 300,000 open deportation cases, and pull people out of the queue who aren’t a high priority for removal, people who have no criminal record and came to the U.S. as kids and pose no threat to the country’s national security. Guerra was one of them.

“It was the biggest news I have ever seen,” Guerra said by phone from his home in West Palm Beach in Florida. Guerra had been fighting his deportation since 2006. “This news just yesterday from the White House, this was awesome. I was in shock.”

So are many immigrant rights advocates, whom have celebrated yesterday’s news even as others point out how few people it will help and that the move still leaves those who win a stay in a precarious position. Those who are undocumented will remain so....

Today, though, many who just yesterday were readying themselves for the worst, are taking a moment to catch their breath.

“I was so worried, so frustrated,” said Manuel Guerra Casas, the Florida man whose removal was canceled yesterday, adding that he and his attorney had launched an online petition four days ago to organize public support for his case and put pressure on the Department of Homeland Security to get his removal order canceled. Casas dreams of become a military chaplain. He was inspired by a priest he met in church who was in the Marines.

“I see it as a good sign that I need to stay here, that I need to stay and work on the DREAM Act and fight for those who work in the shadows and are undocumented.”

“It’s a miracle.”

There is still a lot that needs to be done on this issue, as the rest of the article points out. But rest well for now Manuel. We hope all your dreams come true!