Race Forward welcomes President Obama’s Executive Order taking action on the deep and urgent need for immigration relief. It is no small matter that the Order will enable millions of people to remain in the United States without fear of deportation.

The expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the relief for parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents goes a long way toward ending the separation of immigrant families that we reported in Shattered Families, our 2011 report estimating that thousands of children remain in foster care when the immigration, criminal justice and child welfare systems converge in their family’s life.

We are inspired by the enormous courage we’ve seen among the undocumented immigrants who spoke to us for that report, and who have come out over the last decade to change the course of the debate. We applaud the President for using his authority to bring justice and relief to the millions of our friends, neighbors, classmates, workers and family members whose daily lives will be positively affected by this Order.

This struggle is far from over. This Presidential action will lessen the instances of "Shattered Families,” but permanent solutions to family separation, discrimination and human rights abuses in this arena require a full overhaul of our immigration policy. We urge the White House and Congress to keep pushing in this direction, as we know communities across the nation will.