JUST one month into the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) more than 75,000 applications for deferred action and work authorization have been submitted to the USCIS. As of last week, the USCIS began granting approvals on may of the earliest filed applications. Experts predict that USCIS will have received over 200,000 DACA Applications by November 6, 2012, the date of the Presidential election, on which President Obama will square off against the Republican Candidate, Mitt Romney, who has failed to clearly state his position on the DACA program, as well as many other significant issues.
DACA began on August 15, 2012, as an answer to Congressional lethargy on Immigration Reform and repeated failure to pass the DREAM ACT. The administrative policy reform came as a welcome surprise to those it will benefit, who had all but given up hope to attend college in the US, get a degree and fulfill their dreams in the US.
There are an estimated 1,000,000 people living in the US who may potentially qualify for DAS under this new policy initiative, however, many are waiting to see what will happen in the November election, for fear that Mitt Romney, if elected, could cancel the program and use information provided to attempt to “deport” applicants. While the latter is not a likely scenario in any event, USCIS expects a new deluge of applications once Mitt Romney states clearly his position on the program or when he loses the election to Obama on November 6, 2012.
USCIS has rallied thousands of workers to deploy in adjudicating the DACA requests, all of which will be paid for based on the $465.00 filing fee each applicant must submit with his application. These USCIS employees are reviewing each application for deferred action status individuals who: (1) Came to the US under the age of 16; (2) have continuously resided in the US for at least 5 years preceding June 15, 2012 and remain present in the US; (3) are currently attending school, have already graduated high school or obtained a GED, or are honorably discharged veterans of the US armed forces or Coast Guard; (4) have not been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offense, multiple misdemeanor offenses or otherwise pose any threat to national security or public safety; and (5) are not yet aged 31.
Any application made for benefits under this program, which include DAS and work authorization, will require extensive, verifiable documentation that all criteria are met. DHS has stated that it cannot guarantee that all requests for DAS will be granted and has made clear that DAS is not an amnesty, legal status, or path to Citizenship and confers no other legal rights.
Completed DACA applications have been reaching adjudicating officers for over one week now. Individuals who believe they may qualify for DAS Under this program are advised to gather any and all evidence tending to establish the 5 criteria outlined above and consult with competent counsel before submitting any application or documentation to DHS regarding their immigration status in the US. Hopefully, within the next few weeks, Mr. Romney will offer a little more clarity as to his position on DACA than “I would prefer a more permanent solution,” so that DACA eligible people can submit their applications with confidence. Obviously, we all would prefer a more permanent solution, but absent any solution coming from Congress or the Republicans, DACA is the preferred solution for now; temporary as it may be.
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Daniel P. Hanlon is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law and a principal of Hanlon Law Group, PC, located at 225 S. Lake Ave., 11th Floor in Pasadena, California; Tel. No. (626) 585-8005. Hanlon Law Group, PC is a “full-service Immigration Law firm.” E-mail: [email protected] and www.hanlonlawgroup.com.
