ANA SOCHITL, 21, at work at a taco shop, said that she could now pursue a job that uses her new sociology degree.
By IAN LOVETT
LOS ANGELES — Ana Sochitl graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, on Saturday, with a degree in sociology. But until Friday, she had worried that even after she threw her cap into the air, she would be stuck at her job at a taco shop, the price of having immigrated here illegally at age 4.
But a day after President Obama announced an executive action to permit hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants to remain in this country, Ms. Sochitl said that instead of a life working at a taco shop, she was going to look for a job that uses her degree, working in a rehabilitation center.
“Before this, I wondered what I was going to do with my life,” said Ms. Sochitl, 21. “This is opening a door for me. Now I can get a job that uses my degree. I can do something with myself.”
For many immigrants here, especially students like Ms. Sochitl, Mr. Obama’s announcement on Friday of his plan to offer work permits to some illegal immigrants under 30 years old who came to the United States before age 16, unleashed a wave of joy and relief, undercut with wariness about if and how the policy might be implemented. The policy does not grant any permanent legal status.
At the taco shop where Ms. Sochitl works in Boyle Heights, a center of Latino culture in Los Angeles and a home to immigrants from all over the world, everyone knew someone who stood to benefit from the new policy.
Even patrons who were already citizens, like María Cano, who came here from Mexico in 1979, reacted with emotion as they named cousins or neighbors who might now be able to stay in the country legally.
“Immigrants have helped build this society for many, many years, and I think it’s time that we were recognized and given a chance,” Ms. Cano, 46, said, tearing up as she spoke. “I know so many people whose parents brought them here illegally, who went to school and started working here. And now there is finally hope for them.”
For Ms. Cano, like many others in this solidly Democratic neighborhood, the new policy reaffirms her plans to support Mr. Obama in November.
But even in this area, some other Latinos had grown frustrated with the president, as immigration reform efforts stalled in Congress.
Vilma Berrios, who immigrated from El Salvador in 1975 and is now a citizen, voted for Mr. Obama in 2008. As she sat in MacArthur Park, another gathering place for immigrants, she spoke of her conflicted feelings.
She said she did not support Mr. Obama anymore, because so many people had been deported under his administration. But she added that if he followed through on the promises he made Friday, she would vote for him again.
“I have to think about who I’m going to vote for,” Ms. Berrios, 59, said in Spanish. “If he completes what he promised today, I will vote for him. It’s very important. But I want immigration reform that will benefit everyone.”
Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said Friday’s announcement had the potential to reinvigorate enthusiasm for Mr. Obama among many Latinos.
“It is a game changer for him,” Ms. Salas said. “It is very motivating. It kind of keeps the hope people had for this president alive.”
Still, after years of disappointment in efforts to change immigration laws, some remained skeptical, reserving their excitement until they saw how the new policy would be implemented.
“We heard the news, and it’s great, but it’s just a first step,” said Maxima Guerrero, 22, a college student who wore a shirt that read, “I Am Undocumented” to a rally in downtown Los Angeles. “When I see it in action, then I’ll say, ‘This is fantastic.’ For now, we’re just getting the ball rolling.”
And most important, Ms. Guerrero said, the new policy did not at all diminish the need for comprehensive immigration reform — a sentiment that nearly everyone in East Los Angeles echoed.
José Pérez, 60, runs the farmers’ market in Boyle Heights with his wife and daughter. On Friday night at the market, as a singer on stage crooned in Spanish and locals perused stands selling cherries, tamales and handmade jewelry, Mr. Pérez said he hoped that eventually, a new immigration policy would offer legal status to everyone in his community.
“I know so many people who graduate, and then that’s it; they can’t do nothing,” Mr. Pérez said. “This is a country of immigrants. Why don’t we help these people who need to be helped?”
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