Contributed by Koby Polaski,
Senior Attorney, Edwards Office
On November 20, 2014 President Obama announced a series of
executive actions which have the intended purpose of securing the United States
borders, prioritizing the removal of felons, and allowing certain undocumented
immigrants to apply for deferred action.
Those that are eligible must pass a criminal background
check and pay taxes in order to temporarily stay in the U.S. without fear of
deportation. Other important components
and requirements of the program are outlined here:
1.
Applicants must be an undocumented individual
living in the United States who is the parent of a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident, and who
meets the guidelines listed below.
·
Have lived in the United States continuously
since January 1, 2010;
·
Had, on November 20, 2014, a son or daughter who
is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent
resident; and
·
Are not an enforcement priority for removal from
the United States, under the November 20, 2014, Policies for the Apprehension,
Detention and Removal of Undocumented Immigrants Memorandum.
2.
The United States Citizenship & Immigration
Service has been tasked with developing further guidelines and procedures and
will consider each request for DAPA on a case-by-case basis.
3.
Enforcement priorities include (but are not
limited to) national security and public safety threats. This category includes people with
particularly serious misdemeanors and felonies.
Therefore, if you have any kind of criminal conviction, it is important
that we know about and analyze it before submitting any applications on your
behalf.
After President Obama’s executive action announcement in
November, the government announced its plan to begin accepting DAPA
applications in May of this year.
However, on February 16, 2015, a federal judge in the Southern District
of Texas issued a preliminary injunction, which delays implementation of DAPA
and the expansion of DACA. Following the
injunction, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
announced that it suspended plans to implement DAPA.
The federal government will appeal the temporary injunction
to a higher court. Additionally, if the
judge in Texas ultimately rules against DAPA, the federal government will also
appeal any ruling striking down the programs.
Although there are no guarantees in any court of law, the
arguments and precedent for DACA and DAPA as legitimate exercises of
prosecutorial discretion are strong. We
therefore expect that the court will ultimately uphold both programs as lawful,
allowing USCIS to move forward with implementation.
Our recommendation is that potential applicants continue
preparing to apply for DAPA by gathering documents demonstrating their presence
in the country since before January 1, 2010.
Please contact Joseph Law Firm if you would like to further
discuss your case or new developments in this litigation.
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