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200,000 undocumented Korean immigrants welcome Obama’s action

November 21, 2014

Locals gathered at the Korean Resource Center in Los Angeles Thursday night to watch President Obama announce his new immigration plan. (Park Sang-hyuk/The Korea Times)

The Korea Times Los Angeles staff

Korean immigration advocates and organizations welcomed President Obama’s new immigration plan, announced in a speech Thursday night. The action will affect approximately 200,000 Koreans who are in the country illegally, they said.

Obama’s new immigration overhaul gives undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents eligibility to work in the U.S. legally.

There are approximately 1.5 million undocumented Asian Americans in the U.S. 200,000 of which are reportedly Korean. (AAPI Data)

Korean organizations in the U.S. said there are about 180,000 to 200,000 undocumented Korean immigrants.

The new plan is expected to affect about 5 million undocumented immigrants across America.

Statements of support for Obama’s plan came Thursday night following his speech from the Korea Resource Center, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium and the Korean American Resource and Cultural Center in Chicago.

“We’ve worked for nearly 20 years to help solve the difficulties faced by undocumented Korean immigrants,” said Hee Joo Yoon, executive director of the KRC.

The KRC serves about 11,000 people in Los Angeles, primarily low-income, Limited English Proficient Korean American immigrants.

Yoon said more than 33,000 young, undocumented Korean immigrants escaped fear of deportation after Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals plan came into being in 2012.