Excitement, disbelief over President Obama's orderon immigration (w/video)

President Barack Obama’s promise to grant temporary relief from deportation to an estimated 5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States - possibly tens of thousands in the North Bay - was met with excitement and disbelief by those who would benefit from it and disappointment by those who oppose the move.

For Jose Bedolla, whose undocumented parents could benefit from the temporary deportation relief, President Obama’s executive order could not have come too soon.

“I’ve been waiting for this day too long,” the 23-year-old Healdsburg resident said.

His family gathered around the TV in the family room to listen to the president’s announcement Thursday. The news brought a sense of relief and tranquility for his parents, who have been living in Sonoma County for two decades.

Bedolla and his 16-year-old sister, Jeanette, were born in the United States. Under the executive order, their mother and father will be able to request deportation reprieves and work permits as long as they pass a criminal background check and pay a fee and taxes.

“I still can’t believe it,” his mother, Marina Bedolla, said. “I’m happy I’m going to be able to remain with my kids and contribute more to the community.”

Although it provides only temporarily relief, his father, Roberto Bedolla, hopes someday they’ll have a path to citizenship.

“This is a starting point,” he said. “We hope in the years to come, we’ll see a more comprehensive reform.”

While they’ve learned English and assimilated to life in America, over the years they’ve also lived in fear of getting pulled over while driving and forcibly separated from their kids.

Mario Castillo, 40, has lived with a similar fear for nearly three decades. Castillo, who lives in the El Verano community of Sonoma Valley, was only 14 years old when a “coyote” helped him illegally cross the border at Tijuana 26 years ago.

His biggest fear was being caught and sent back to his native Mexico, even as he pieced together a tenuous life for his wife and two U.S.-born children.

“I’m still digesting it,” Castillo said. “We’re just waiting to see what those who oppose it will do. It’s unreal right now.”

Stephen Scribner, a Santa Rosa immigration attorney, said it’s difficult for Americans to fathom the anxiety and fear so many undocumented immigrants have been living with, in some cases for decades.

“It’s people who are living in the shadows,” Scribner said. “I don’t know how you convey what that means to somebody who has no concept of not having the right to be where you are, living as a trespasser.”

Castillo said you just learn to live in fear. “It’s something you wake up and go to sleep with.”

“That fear will still be there for a while until it hits you that I could potentially get a new job,” he said. “I could change jobs. … I could potentially be making more money, move to a better place, afford to live in a better house, buy a house, buy a car, get credit.”

Jose Bedolla said his family hasn’t traveled out of the state because of fear that law enforcement or immigration officials would stop them and deport his parents.

“My mother will be able to see the snow. I’ll be able to take her to Chicago, where her sister lives,” he said.

“My father is going to be able to watch the sunset in Hawaii,” Bedolla added, saying that the family will be able to go to Hawaii for his parents’ 25th wedding anniversary if they are shielded from deportation.

The executive action is similar to what Obama granted in 2012 to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children. That executive order was called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

The new deferred action would be granted to undocumented immigrants who have been in the country at least five years.

Other actions Obama said he would take include:

Cracking down on illegal immigration by deploying more enforcement resources along the border and deporting undocumented immigrants who recently crossed the border.

Prioritizing immigration enforcement by focusing on criminals and not on “hardworking parents” of U.S. citizens.

Streamlining and expanding work authorization for high-skilled workers who are in line for a green card.

Not everyone was happy with the president’s announcement.

Elissa Wadleigh, chairwoman of the Sonoma County Republican Party, said Obama was “putting a Band-Aid on a broken arm.” Wadleigh said the president should have waited for the new Congress to address the issue during the next session.

“If the president was actually serious about the immigration issue, rather than acting unilaterally, he would work together with Congress, who are the representatives of the states, to bring about comprehensive immigration reform,” Wadleigh said.

Wadleigh said the president was “going against the pulse of the entire country,” which, as demonstrated by the recent midterm elections, is moving “toward Republican solutions.” She said comprehensive immigration overhaul that can produce lasting successful immigration policy will require changes to temporary fixes.

In his speech, Obama challenged Congress to do exactly that when he said, “Pass a bill.” Obama said his executive order would go away as soon as Congress passed comprehensive changes to immigration policy.

Bedolla, a member of the North Bay Immigrant Youth Union, called Obama’s action a first step.

“I’ve been fighting for immigrant rights for my family since I was 15,” he said, adding that the fight is not over.

Immigrant advocates said there are numerous immigrants in the area who will be left out. The order won’t cover farmworkers who don’t have children who are U.S. citizens or legal residents, nor will it apply to recent arrivals, nor parents of those who have been granted temporary legal immigration status through DACA.

Still, many immigrants have at least one child who was born in the U.S., said Jesus Guzman, lead organizer and program manager at the Graton Day Labor Center.

Guzman, who has been closely watching for news from the White House, said many immigrants were skeptical that Obama would act.

“The skepticism is from (Obama’s) having announced multiple times he was going to do something and not following through,” Guzman said.

Although not all undocumented immigrants will be eligible, Santa Rosa immigration attorney Richard Coshnear welcomed any action that would bring some stability to people’s lives.

“(It) would ease the pain of a lot of families in Sonoma County and Northern California,” Coshnear said. “It allows people to feel more confident about their lives.”

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish. You can reach Staff Writer Eloísa Ruano González at 521-5458 or eloisa.gonzalez@pressdemocrat.com.