Illustration: Sun Ying/GT

Never say never, and anything is possible. These may sound like mere clichés. But in an election year, really, you never know. Like US President Barack Obama's announcement on June 15 of a new policy that will stop the deportation of young illegal immigrants who came to this country as kids and allow them to work here legally. It surprised everyone, yet it is no surprise at all.

The idea is nothing new. A law called the Dream Act that pretty much sought the same goals was proposed 11 years ago in the US Congress. But after a marathon campaign by supporters and several hopeful moments when the momentum seemed to be growing, the dream hasn't gone anywhere.

Obama's new policy, though short of offering green cards, has many similarities to the Dream Act. And it bypasses gridlock in the congress because it is an executive order rather than legislation.

This is no doubt a campaign strategy for Obama as he seeks to garner support from immigrant communities, particularly Hispanics, in the November presidential election. Everyone knows an executive order from one president can always be rescinded by his successor. Nevertheless, it's a blessing for the 800,000 illegal youths who will benefit from it.

These are people who grew up in this country, go to school here and know nowhere else as home. There are high-profile immigrants, like Daniela Pelaez, a high school valedictorian whose recent battle against deportation has caught the attention of the nation.

And there are quieter ones like Simon, the young Chinese man I talked to, who, after graduating from Stony Brook University with a bachelor's degree in computer science, can only work at his family's takeout restaurant because of his immigration status.

They were all brought in as young children or babies by their parents who crossed the border without proper documents or overstayed their visas. And the advocates have been arguing, and the president now takes note, that it is unfair to them be punished for their parents' decisions.

But talking about fairness will stir more arguments. What about the children who were also brought to this country when they were young by expat parents who have meticulously kept their work visas? These children also grew up in this country, but when they graduate from high school, they will have to pay higher tuition costs for college because they are considered to be foreigners. And if their parents' visas expire, they have to leave the country too.

And what about those foreign students who have to go back to their own countries after graduating from US colleges because they are not able to get a working visa or a green card due to quota limits? And what about those who applied for their permanent residency long ago but are still waiting in an endlessly long queue that could last 10 years or more?

Many of these people cannot change jobs during the waiting period because they don't have work permits. Granting residency and work permits to the illegals unavoidably makes these people feel they are punished for sticking to the law.

Maybe putting fairness at the front of the debate is the wrong strategy. Everyone agrees US immigration policy is a mess. But when the two parties cannot agree on how to change it and comprehensive immigration reform seems to have stuck in limbo indefinitely, mending a broken policy little by little might be the only way to push forward. But this also means some people have to get such benefits before others.

This, you could argue, is the same with any kind of progress, from the US civil rights movement to technological innovation.  In China, economic development ensured some Chinese got rich long before others. Fairness might be the ultimate goal of progress, but we are destined to go through unfairness to get there.

So the debate will reach no constructive conclusion if it is focused on who should get the benefits first and who are unfairly short changed. Rather, it should be about how to make sure those who are short-changed now benefit next time.

The author is a New York-based journalist. rong_xiaoqing@hotmail.com.