let's remind you, if you want to see more on scrabble, as well as others stories you know where to go. www.aljazeera.com. you can see our front page there. we'll have a scrabble of all the stories we're following. >> the threat of deportation has been lifted for millions of undocumented people in the u.s. been lifted for millions of undocumented people in the u.s. does the executive action deliver the relief activists say they wanted and needed? this is "inside story." >> hello, i'm ray suarez. at the beginning of second term the president said he wanted an immigration reform bill from

congress. and if he didn't get one he would move ahead on his own. that reform bill never came. the president has done what he said he would, and the republican leadership in congress has done what it said it would do if the president acted. of the 11.5 million undocumented people in the u.s. the president has offered a temporary fix for 5 million. it's not to legalize residents but a promise not to deport until the end of the obama administration, or it could be overridden sooner if congress passed a law and signed by the president. >> today our immigration system is broken, and everybody knows it. >> in an address to th the nation thursday president obama

promised an estimated 4 million undocumented immigrants ability to stay in the u.s. >> first, we'll build on our progress at the border so they can stem the flow of illegal crossings and speed the return of those who do cross over. second, i'll make it easier and faster for highly-skilled immigrants, graduates and entrepreneurs to stay and kent to our economy as so many business leaders have proposed. third, we'll take the steps to deal responsebly for the millions of undocumented immigrants who live in our country. >> the president's orders will specifically grant undocumented parents the ability to stay if their children are u.s. citizens or legal residents, and have lived in the u.s. for five years. easier access for high-tech workers to stay in the u.s. and changes to border control enforcement, focusing more on

those who cross the border in the past year, those with criminal records and those with ties to gang or terror networks. president obama has been taking heat for months for his deportation policies and for not taking executive action on immigration. last year a comprehensive reform bill passed by the senate died in the house. house republicans have favored a peace mea piecemeal approach . speaker boehner's reaction to the president's plan was swift and not surprising. >> we will not stand idle as the president undermines the rule of law in our country. but with this action the president has chosen to deliberately sabotage any chance of enacting bipartisan reforms that he claims to seek. we'll listen to the american people. we'll work with our members, and we'll work to protection the

constitution of the united states. >> according to the latest polls from nbc news and the wall street journal the u.s. public seems closely divided on the topic. 48% of americans athey don't say they don't support the president's move. 38% say they do. >> we didn't raise the statue of liberty with her back to the world? we left her light shining. >> the president went to del sol high school friday afternoon, the first place he unveiled his vision for immigration reform shortly after he was sworn in for a second term. >> a closer look at the president's executive order this time on the program. will undocumented people who qualify present themselves and their documents for federal inspection to avoid deportation?

we've heard from the president's republican critics as they fume over the president's action. was it enough to satisfy activists' aspirations? joining us our guests. >> the president was pushing for something for years. he finally did it. was this what you were looking for? >> this is a huge step forward. we know this is going to have a transformative affect on the lives of millions of people. so certainly we're very pleased with this announcement and this

change in policy, and we're going to continue the work that we've been doing for years, ray, and pushing for a permanent solution. >> this leaves 6 million people unaffected by what the president announced last night. >> sure, we look at the people in the country without status, 4 million or so would be able to come forward for this relief. it's not everyone. that's why we'll continue to push because we know there people who have been in this country for a long time and have deep ties here, but they may not have an u.s. citizen child or a child who is a permanent resident, and we'll keep fighting for them, too. >> jorge, this is a world you know well p yo. you were an undocumented person in this country. struggled to get legal. what did you think of the president's speech last night, and if you got to hear any of it, his message to students today.

>> i had a chance to sit next to my mother sitting in her living room, and we watched the speech together. to see the president take steps towards immigration reform since the 60's. it is franc transformative, progressive, but at the end of the day it effects people like me and my mother. it's temporary. it is not law. it is just a change of train tracks, does at that make sense?--it's not going to change the issue. hopeful ly, in the next few years something will come up . >> there are lots of people living in mixed-status families.

would that help in a situation like yours? i would guess there are hundreds of thousands of families like yours where the children have regular status and the parents don't. >> well, this new reform that obama talked about is not really going to affect my family as much as others. my mom's situation is asylum. she's seeking asylum for really serious situation that happened. but it is going to help families who have been here longer than five years. it is definitely going to help my mom's sister, which is going to greatly encourage people to come out of the shadows. however, my concern is that there wasn't any civil--obama didn't mention anything like civil rights protections to discourage people to racial profiling. >> what did you want in that regard?

>> the truth is. the majority are, but there is a stigma . my mom, even though she lives with me fighting for her asylum case. she is concerned because she can't drive. she can't work. she's afraid of being picked up by a police officer because of the color of her skin. there was nothing in the speech giving protection against racial profiling. >> while jorge makes a fair comment, mexico is still the largest sending nation, isn't it? >> yes, it is. >> and over today former senator jim demint said this will embolden people coming over the border. this is something that you've

lived with, strategized for people on both sides of the border. do we or don't we head north? is this the kind of signal that would go into their decision making? >> if this conversation was happening ten years ago, maybe that's the conversation that would be taking place at dining tables, breakfast tables in villages and towns of mexico. but people seed to be forgetting an important trend. it's been widely documented left and right, which is that the number of mexican migrants crossing into the united states without papers has diminished and even flatlined significantly over the past three years. it's what demographers are calling zero migration. more are going back than are coming in. i really don't think that the

decision by the president last night will create a surge or a wave of heightened undocumented crossings because the demographics are not there. the economic and social dynamics in mexico are--i'm not saying that everything is rosy and peachy, but there are more jobs to be had. better wages to be had, and it's anchoring more and more people at home. before we start waxing lyrical about future flows at the border, let's look at the da a data, and what's been happening over the last three and four years in terms of those throws of people coming into the united states. it's flatlined and decreased. >> it was bad here. >> you can't spin this just as economic progress in mexico. it's a combination of factors. it's a very soft economy in the

u.s. since 2009, especially in construction, housing, and some of the services areas where word of mouth is the best detonator of migrant flows. if people say there are jobs to be had in construction in long island, people come up. so a soft economy in the u.s. a much more dangerous border because of organized crime in mexico has muscled its way into human trafficking, and is controlling a business which until ten years ago was in the hands of mom and pop, who would bring people across. but now it's organized crime that has muscled its way into this business. it's much more dangerous to cross. that's also a factor. these three things together have combined to fundamentally visit the dynamics that we've seen on the border. >> what portion of the

11.5 million people we theorize are here. they don't show up for a head count. they purposely hide. where do they come from in the world? do we have good estimates on the mix of population? >> sure. certainly there is significant number that comes from mexico because we're talking about people who have been here for ally long time. the majority of the 11 million have been here for ten years or more. so they've come from mexico. they've come from other parts of latin america. but certainly they come from asia and other parts of the world as well. it's a diverse mix of people who have made the united states their home, and they've been here and they have been contributing for a long time. >> we're going to take a short break. when we return with more inside story we'll talk about those left out of the process, the jeopardy that remains in place for millions not covered by the president's action, and we'll have more on jorge narvae

z's fight to keep his mother in the country. stay with us.

>> welcome back to inside story. i'm ray suarez. we're continuing our conversation on president obama's executive order on immigration. that's the song home and the artist jorge narvaez is with us. jorge, is your mother able to stay? for now you talked about her feelings of fear, of jeopardy, being profiled.

what is the situation now that you managed for her not to be sent home? >> it's been amazing having my mom living with us after eight years of being away. certain things happened, her life was on the line, and she was forced to seek asylum. she was bailed out thanks to social media and everyone who supported me online. she's with us now. it's been amazing, and my mother, who is also an u.s. army veteran, we're both happy to know that she's healthy, she's alive, and it's been an interesting transition. we're trying to figure out how to keep her here because the asylum cases from mexico have tripled if not quadrupled since the increased violence in mexico. so there is a long, long list of

people that might not be able to get asylum. my mom is one of them, and it's scary to know that she was about literally, like, two weeks from being kidnapped and tortured. it was a good thing that she sought asylum, but keeping her here is our goal. and we're just dealing with attorneys and fighting for her to stay. >> mr. ambassador, asylum claims from countries with which the united states has good relations and correct relations are often not given very much chance of succeeding. has that changed with the difficulties in mexico and central america? >> i can't speak to the vie tear i can'ts of how th--the criteria and how the u.s. looks at asylum claims. i'm a product of the mexico's

asylum policy in the mid 20th century when both my families came into mexico. i really believe that a country needs to have an intelligent, enlightened, holistic asylum policy as well. to distinguish asylum claims from people who use that as a way to getting in to the country. it has been a challenge in other countries around the world who have had very generous asylum policies. we've seen examples in sweden, canada, it may be happening in the united states now. bu >> the sticking point here , as we people who are trying to come in.

when claims are troubled, those claims are given hearing. we don't like the government in charge. we don't like the forces in charge, and that's not the case. we've seen in the united states in recent decades asylum claims from different central americans countries going up and down in their reception depending on how well we get along with the government down there. laura, with the deferred action for children arrivals a lot of people have questioned what would be done with the information. people's whole lives in the united states resolve around hiding from the authorities, not telling people where they were. where they go to school, how they make their money. now the government is saying in effect, come, tell us where you are. tell us who you are. tell us how you make your living, and it's going to be okay. are there enough protections built into these executive actions? >> well, that certainly is

something that we're looking at very closely as we see the announcement that was made yes. that information that is shared, it remains there and not shared. other agencies. with daka, half a million people have come forward and applied for it. there is a strength in numbers there that encourages people to know it's okay to come forward because we all know that if information had been shared, if peoples parents were impacted by information sharing within the governmenters those numbers would never have reached half a million. hour community would not have encouraged their friends, their family members to come forward. certainly, the

confidentiality protections are important. we understand it's a big risk for people to come forward and apply. but because of what has happened for the half million people who now have this , people who have good jobs, good environments, that's been transformative, and it encourages people to come forward and apply. we'll also have really good validaters that will go around the country and talk about why this is something that people should consider as individuals, whether this is the right thing for them. congressman gutierrez will go around the country and explain the process and encourage people to come forward, as well as others in the community. we know that the community-based organizations that serve our community are already receiving tons of calls. people are streaming through their doors knowing when this process begins, what they need to do to come forward.

that's the challenge they're dealing with now. >> we'll be back with more inside story after a short break. the president's speech, today's rally in las vegas, are they really the beginning of something than the end? does the president's action move the fight over what to do about millions in the country out of status, and how to run the system in the future into new arenas. stay with us. >> on the stream >> born one gender, but living as another. is a lack of awareness about this community in america costing transgender people basic human rights? >> the stream on al jazeera america

>> welcome back to inside story. i'm ray suarez. president obama wrapped up his speech on immigration at del sol high school in las vegas. the president had challenged congress to pass reform on immigration this "f" they didn't lik if they didn't like his suggestions. we welcome our guests, laura

vasquez. jorge narvaez, who is now a permanent resident, and mr. ambassador, this has not necessarily been the issue between the united states and mexico, but always one of the big ones. certainly during your time as ambassador does this take some of the pressure off, or when you see republicans with a head of steam like they've had over the last 48 hours does it sort of yank it back to the spotlight in a way that doesn't necessarily feel comfortable for a mexican? >> there is no doubt that immigration and immigration reform and labor mobility written large is one of the most important issues in the u.s.-mexico relationship, and few things will have such a profound impact on the economic prosperity of both countries. i think that even though the decision by the president yesterday is not perfect because

perfection will only come, hopefully, through bipartisan action in congress for us to be able to not only address the total population of 12 million undocumented individuals, but also deal with things like temporary worker program for the agriculture sector, which still needs to be addressed. but at the end of the day we need congress in bipartisanship in addressing a holistic long-term solution. but beyond the politics and process i think all of us on both sides of the border need to be reminded this is about people. people with a face, a name, and because of last night's decision are coming out of the shadows. this is even if we still have 6 million, 5 million people who will not be able to benefit from the president's decision, this is overnight changing the lives of 4 million to 5 million people in this country.

>> jorge, you talked about watching the speech last night with your mother. >> it's bittersweet, i have to admit. my mother's situation is a little more unique. she was told to leave the country a couple of years ago to seek an interview. and because of that interview she confessed that she crossed the border at age 16, so it's complicated for her. but like laura said and the former ambassador said it is a step towards progress, and i'm very excited to see what's going to happen in three years or two years from now. i'm hoping that congress and also the future president come comes--creates a very good response to this temporary fix for immigration reform. >> laura, we have less than a minute, what should people keep in mind as we watch this policy roll out? and what are you telling your allies around the country? >> well,

certainly, to the community is to stay calm. don't pay anyone any money. the program has not begun. there is analysis to do. we'll have resources and information to share about what people should be doing bun once the process has begun . the message is to stay calm. and then we'll keep pushing and fighting for that solution that we need. >> to our guests, great to have you all with us. that brings us to the end of this edition of "inside story." thanks for being with us. the program may be over, but the conversation continues. we want to hear what you think about the issues. log on to our his book page. send us your thoughts on twitter. or you can follow me directly @ray suarez news. we'll see you for the next inside story. in washington i'm ray suarez.

>> hello, welcome to the news hour. i'm martine dennis in doha. a massacre in kenya. al-shabab fighters shoot dead civilians. we'll have the latest from baghdad. and russia accuses the rest of trying to topple president putin. we look towards the arctic for science of