On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced to the
nation, that he was taking “Executive Action” to address some long standing
problems in our immigration system. The President’s announcement was actually
the culmination of a nine-month process, during which his policy and legal
advisors attempted to examine and define the precise legal scope of the
Executive’s authority to make changes in immigration policy and procedure.
While it is well accepted that Congress makes the laws regarding immigration, the
Executive branch is delegated and charged with administering the law and
procedures, by which foreign-born persons are granted legal status, or work
authorization, or are removed from the United States under the deportation
process. Within the system, the Executive has the authority to grant deferred
action, parole, as well as employment authorization and other types of relief
from deportation.
Regardless of one’s position on whether President Obama
has the authority to make these reforms, or whether he has overstepped his
authority, it is clear, that as these changes come to fruition, many families,
parents and children, and many skilled foreign workers, and their employers,
will be benefited from Executive Action. In general terms, Executive Action
will benefit two groups of people, family based immigrants, and employment
based immigrants.
Here are the principal points of President Obama’s
Executive Action:
·
Expanding the population eligible for the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to young people who came
to this country before turning 16 years old and have been present since
January 1, 2010, and extending the period of DACA and work authorization from
two years to three years. The age limit will be removed from DACA, so that
persons over age 31 will be able to qualify.
·
Allowing parents of U.S. citizens and lawful
permanent residents who have been present in the country since January 1, 2010,
to request deferred action and employment authorization for three years, in a
new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability program, provided they pass
required background checks. It is expected that the new DAPA program will
operate in much the same fashion as the existing DACA program, requiring the
same fees, and a similar form.
·
Expanding the use of provisional waivers of
unlawful presence to include the spouses and sons and daughters of lawful
permanent residents and the sons and daughters of U.S. citizens,
·
Creating a new “Pre-Registration for Adjustment
of Status” procedure, whereby employment based immigrants, who have approved
I-140 petitions, may register for and receive many of the benefits of
adjustment of status, including work authorization and improved portability of
employment, even though they may not have a current priority date. It is
estimated that the pre-registration provision could benefit up to 400,000
people, principally Indian and Chinese born high-skilled workers. [1]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service still must issue
policy guidance, and it must prepare administratively for a massive influx of
applicants. It is expected that the guidelines will be issued and the programs
should be implemented during Spring 2015. Until these guidelines are issued,
many of the details of the new programs will not be known.
Anyone who wishes additional information on Executive Action
can certainly contact immigration attorneys Gabriela Ungo or Barry Walker, www.walkerungo.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment