Something does not compute between the reality lived by so many of the students who could benefit from the DREAM Act and what President Obama stated in an interview on Univision a few days back: "We are not targeting students.  That is completely false."

 Last week at a public forum, also sponsored by Univision, Karen Maldonado, a student, with a deportation order in her hand, asked Obama if it was true they were not deporting students, because she and other students keep on getting letters with the bad news.  

Obama reiterated his support of the DREAM Act and indicated that an executive order could not ignore the law put in place by Congress regarding deportations and other immigration matters.  He asked that people continue to contact their legislators to pressure them on the DREAM Act, "and let them know that this is the right thing to do."

I am not going to get into the technicalities of his assertion that he cannot use his executive power to stop deportations. But let us say that he can use his criteria to provide administrative relief in certain cases and under certain circumstances. That he does not do so is another matter.

I am wondering if the president is really aware of what the Department of Homeland Security is doing.

There are many students who have faced or are facing deportation; and even cases for deferred deportation have been achieved only after intense pressure from senators and legislators and groups that support them.

Three weeks ago DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano confirmed that the Obama administration has used its administrative discretion to stop deportation in fewer cases than former President George W. Bush.

In other words, the Obama administration has broken two records: it has deported more immigrants than Bush and it has provided relief in fewer cases than Bush.

For each case of deferred deportation there are many other cases of exceptional students and community leaders who are in deportation proceedings.  How many are there?

How many students who could be eligible for the DREAM Act have been deported?  How many are in the process of being deported?

In a previous column, I wrote about the case of Pedro Gutierrez of Arizona, who was brought to the United States by his grandmother  when he was seven years old.  Three intense campaigns were necessary to defer his deportation. He is an orphan and dreams of being a marine.

The case of Mariano Cardoso of Connecticut also is worth noting.  He is 22 years old, 20 of them living in that state.  He has deportation orders after being apprehended by immigration authorities in his own home.  He wants to be an engineer.  His deportation has not been deferred.

Maldonado, the young woman who questioned Obama at the public forum, arrived from Peru when she was nine. She is now 18, is an honors student in high school.  But she has deportation orders after being detained during an ICE raid in her home, along with her father.  

There are many more stories like these.

In his interview on Univision, the president said "regarding deportations, we have refocused our attention on those who have engaged in criminal activity. We are not rounding up students.  That is totally untrue."

During the forum, he emphasized that they are focused on those who are "destructive" for the community. 

But those young people who have been detained and are facing deportation, or whose deportations have been stopped temporarily,  are neither criminals nor destructive. 

They are young people who want to contribute to the country's future as professionals or military. And according to what Obama has said himself, "And one of the things just to reemphasize is if we've got talented young people here in the United States who are working hard, who aspire to college, in some cases want to serve in the military, want to serve our country, it makes no sense for us to send them away."

Someone in the DHS must not have the same opinion.

Maybe massive deportation raids are not well publicized, but there are many people who face deportation, or the specter of deportation.

The DREAM Act, which would have legalized many of these young people, died during the last session of Congress.

Several legislative attempts are expected to promote this project once again, but its future is uncertain, particularly in the Republican House of Representatives. 

President Obama reiterated during his interview on Univision that the DREAM Act is "the correct thing to do, and I will keep on working on it until we achieve it." 

Meanwhile, he could provide some administrative relief to these young people, even though he assures us he doesn't have many options.

He added, many times people underestimate "how persistent I am."

The Dreamers are also persistent.