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Subscribe to RSSPresident Obama's new program covers more than one million people brought to the country as illegal immigrants. Applicants around the country say they no longer have to live in the shadows. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
Foreign consulates, lawyers’ offices and advocacy organizations were abuzz with activity as the federal government on Wednesday began allowing certain young undocumented immigrants who came to America as children to apply for the right to legally stay and work in the country.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began accepting applications for consideration of “deferred action”— a two-year reprieve from any threat of deportation, with the possibility of renewal. The new Obama administration program, a radical and controversial change in immigration policy, was announced by Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano in mid-June.
The government posted the application forms online on Tuesday.
In Chicago, thousands of people lined up Wednesday morning at Navy Pier, a 3,300-foot-long pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, for one of many “DREAM Relief Day” activities scheduled across the nation. The informational event was sponsored by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights to help immigrants apply for the reprieve and get work permits.
"It's an opportunity that we've been waiting for basically for a really long time, and finally it's here," one potential applicant, Edalid Miranda, told NBC Chicago.
NBCChicago.com
Young people wait at Navy Pier in Chicago on Wednesday to get information and assistance with applications for relief from the threat of deportation for two years.
Sen. Dick Durbin, Rep. Luis Gutierrez and Mayor Rahm Emanuel were among the elected officials at the event.
A new program allows young illegal immigrants the chance to avoid deportation. WTVJ's Julia Bagg reports.
“The people who say undocumented immigrants don't really want to be part of this country will have to rethink that when they see hundreds of thousands or maybe a million young people come forward to sign up in the coming weeks and months,” Gutierrez, a strong backer of the new Obama policy, said in a news release.
A day earlier, an essay by Gutierrez titled “Ten Reasons Young People Should Come Forward For Deferred Action” was published in the Huffington Post.
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In California, lines formed outside the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles for a workshop to help people through the paperwork.
"It means a lot to me," Brenda Robles, of Torrance, told NBC Los Angeles. "Now I can be legal. Now I can do what everybody does -- work legally and have something that shows I can work. I won't have fear anymore.
"After I got out of high school, I saw all my friends looking for jobs. I had to get a baby-sitting job to pay for my school."
Young undocumented immigrants across the country have been busy assembling the records and documents they might need to satisfy the application requirements.
“People are very, very anxious to file, so we’ve been telling them to over-prepare,” Emid Gonzalez, manager of legal services at Casa de Maryland, told The Washington Post. The group scheduled an afternoon workshop Wednesday that promised to be well-attended. “The phone has been ringing off the hook,” Gonzalez told the newspaper.
Jonathan Alcorn / Reuters
People line up for help with paperwork for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
In New York City, more than 1,000 young people and their families showed up Wednesday for a workshop and legal clinic at St. Mary's Church on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the New York Immigration Coalition said. "Today we embark on a road to deferred action, work authorization, and the ability of eligible young people to pursue their dreams in the country they call home," Chung-Wha Hong, coalition executive director, was quoted as saying in a press release. "Let’s hope this is the first step to the kinds of reform our country, and our communities, so desperately need.”
At the Honduran Consulate in Washington on Tuesday, a line of people wrapped around the building before it was open for business, and the office was crowded for much of the day, The Associated Press reported. Honduran Consulate officials said the number of people applying for passports has more than doubled in the past week, and almost all of them have said they were getting passports to apply to stay in the U.S.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
People fill out paperwork at the Honduras Embassy in Washington on Tuesday.
Mayra Rivera, 47, brought her children, ages 18 and 20, to the consulate from Philadelphia to help them apply for passports.
"They came here when they were children. So, for them, even though they are from Honduras ... this is their adoptive country and they love it a lot," Rivera said in Spanish, according to AP. "For them to succeed ... is like winning the Lotto."
Chris Bentley, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services in Washington, said Wednesday it’ll be about two weeks before the government has preliminary numbers on how many people filed for the deportation reprieve on the first day. The first approval could come within a month, he said.
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Once an individual's application is received, the data is logged and the person gets a receipt number. The applicant must also go to an application support center to be fingerprinted and photographed. A background check is also done.
Applicants should find out within a few weeks whether they’ve been approved.
“USCIS has developed a rigorous review process for deferred action requests under guidelines issued by Secretary Napolitano,” said Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas. “Childhood arrivals who meet the guidelines and whose cases are deferred will now be able to live without fear of removal, and be able to more fully contribute their talents to our great nation.”
The Migration Policy Institute and the Pew Hispanic Center estimate that as many as 1.7 million undocumented immigrants could be eligible to apply under the program, formally called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
To be considered, applicants must meet these criteria:
- Were under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012;
- Came to the United States before reaching their 16th birthday;
- Have continuously resided in the United States since June 15, 2007, up to the present time;
- Were physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012, and at the time of making their request for consideration of deferred action;
- Entered without inspection before June 15, 2012, or their lawful immigration status expired as of June 15, 2012;
- Are currently in school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States; and
- Have not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, three or more other misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.
Information from NCBChicago.com, NBCLosAngeles.com and The Associated Press is included in this story.
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when will we stop getting kicked around and thats by our politicians creeps don't have a clue whats coming
Sue...I think they do...from what I can tell/read...govt is arming herself up for any civil unrest...it will be stamped out in a NY sec...
Sue:
Just like any grade schooler dealing with a bully; We'll stop getting kicked around when we start kicking back.
Immigration is better than racism but close both in the racism catagory.. Obama is selling Americans out and the world loves it.. Obama lives in the past or is confused is more like it . he has no vision or he would not be selling us out, rather protecting us from over population and the inevitable growing rat race that will try to consume us alive if we don't stop it now.
Obama's way to run the government with no valid solution probably something Pelosi suggested to him to get millions of voters. I am surprised they did not offer reward money to come in and register.
..................................DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE.....JULY 4th 1776..............................................
We hold these TRUTHS to be SELF-EVIDENT, that ALL MEN are created EQUAL, that they are endowed by their CREATOR with CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS, that among these are LIFE, LIBERTY and the PURSUIT of HAPPINESS.
Amen!
Exactly right, every person deserves the right to pursue those things without persecution. NOT have them handed to them.
There is a process of laws that must be adhered to you ignorant bottom feeding low-life piece of trash...
Obama is trying to get this to be the United States of Kenya. His father, uncle and aunt are illegal immigrants, except his father got a white woman to marry him for legality, got her pregnant and them split. You can"t alter facts can you. This is the sorry state you liberals have gotten our country into. Rant all you want and call names, but you can't change the facts.
Real simple.... .monkybama needs the votes, with 80 plus million folks now on goverment assistance, the USA is becoming the welfare nation, people around the world see and relise this, even China is pulling out of wallstreet, its not good business in this country any more just as its not in any welfare state, they see a goverment out of control with regulation after regulation....well just another tax.
Oh thank you Mr. O for you kindness and your consideration of young illegals...just curious....why did you wait to do this just before the election...it wouldn't be to get votes would it...nah, you would do that...what was I thinking??
This is a slap in the face to every true American. I mean born here, lived here, paid taxes here. Anything else is not American. Period
I think the illegal immigration half amnesty is a mistake because it does not answer the immigration problem, of which the Democrats have the wrong answer.
I think everyone can agree that legal immigration helps economic growth, and is benificial to most Americans. However, laws past in the last 70 years make legal immigration more difficult. It limits the amount of immigrants possible, and it puts them into our welfare system if they are coming in below poverty. This is the main problem with immigration today. Something I think someone from Chicago will never understand. The first answer to this is to eliminate the immigration limit, and to make social programs unusable by immigrants for the first 7 years they are in the United States.
The second problem with illegal immigration is that its "Illegal". These illegal immigrants disgraced our countries laws and helped promote illegal violent activity along the border like kidnappings, and drug running. This will be alleviated by eliminating the immigration cap, but it does not stop the fact they came here illegally in the first place. They should have to at the very minimum pay some fine thats higher then the fees it takes to immigrate here legally.
The third problem is a lack of assimilation into society. Immigrants come here not speaking English and in several decades fail to learn the commonly spoken language. Not only did they set themselves up for defeat in the economic market by not learning English, but they make it difficult for the community to communicate with this demographic. It should not be you have to learn French or Spanish or Arabic, it should be they should learn English. If I went to live in Russia today not knowing a word of Russian. In a month I will be speaking Russian. The solution should be that state and local governments should have the option to only print documents in English.
These issues are not addressed by Democrats in the Fed or even in local governments which is why most border districts are ripe for Republicans and Libertarians to win. Legal immigrants know what the issue on immigration is, North East Democrats have no idea. So far the only solutions I have seen out of the Democrat camp is making it more difficult to be employed with stricter employer enforcement.
To me this move to grant temporary passports is just pandering for a president who has no idea what the issue is, has not addressed it in 4 years, and probably has a worse solution to the issue. Its not like its a Reagenesque granting all current illegal immigrants legal status.
What a crock! I say deport them all. Anyone who breaks the law in coming here does not deserve to be treated with such favoritism. No I say they should all be sent packing.
I have had three members of my family hit by Illegal aliens drivers. No License, No Insurance or Registration.
But I guess that is okay with Obama he could careless what middle class Americans got through all he is interested in getting elected, hell if he could gives this aliens the right to vote he would.
Breaking the law is breaking the law and the answer is DEPORT them all.
Look these are young adults and children brought here they didn't come here by themselves. I don't have a problem with these kids being citizens. As long as they are productive members of society
Its funny how the right complains about this but there idolize Regan who gave millions amnesty in the 80's.
There needs to be immigration reform now!!!
1. Build a fence between both borders a real one not an over priced chain link fence. made with American steal 15ft high and 6 ft deep...
2. Use the thousands of unemployed construction workers to do it
3. All immigrants must register with the government. they must show address, documents from home country, give finger print and DNA sample. Once complete they will be given a special ID card and a tax id number, and will be able to receive a drivers license
4. Must register 1yr after fence completion
5. Once #3 is complete they must pay a 1500.00 fine they have 1yr. to pay it.
6. After fine is paid and documents are provided they will be given temporary citizenship for 5yrs.
7. A background check with be conducted with US law enforcement, Interpol, and country of origin. If the applicant comes back clean, and doesn't commit a felony or multiple misdemeanors or no significant misdemeanors they will be granted full US citizenship.
8. Also classified guest workers will be have to complete #3 but will have to pay 500.00 per yr to renew there permit
9. If any of these criteria is violated or not completed by the deadline that person or persons will be deported and bared from entering the US
This idea takes from both the republicans and the democrats plans
The fines and fees will pay for the background checks, cost of the fence, and other expenditures
This plan will help with the manufacturing jobs, unemployment rate, security, cost of medicaid will go down, cost to our education will go down.
This is a win win solution but I doubt the politicians will do any of it
Mittens might as well throw in the towel, he should know that just by looking at that long azz line....
LOL...obama hit the jackpot now...or is it the yackpot
es a preeedy good country
The war against TIME ! The fate of hate is upon us !
stop the scare tactics
And the age limit on that list of requirements needs to be drastically reduced!!
Being here illegally is a felony. ALL these people are FULLY aware they were/are breaking the law. Fine up standing immigrants my ass. If they want too be here so bad and do it RIGHT, like they say, GO HOME. Wait for the paper work, like you were supposed too, then, maybe, then, I will trust and believe in their sincerity. Till then they are just felons. And our president gives them a get outta jail card. OBAMA = One Big Ass Mistake America.
100 % positive you're bogus S.E.A.L..............illegal presence in the U.S.A. is a "Civil Offense".
They will over run America and vote us out !
Purely a vote buying scheme.
Glad to see that finally something is being done about immigration problem. This step has been necessary for a long time now. Congrats to all the young people that can now start their lives.
Now is when the cops should be swooping in and grabbing every single one they can. Bring in the tear gas and stun grenades. Bag 'em like deer, throw 'em on the hood, and drive 'em to the nearest Border Patrol vans for transport home.
All I can say is YOU BASTARD!!!! I hope you and all your ILLEGAL VOTERS rot in HELL. Were I live SMELLS like MEXICO and as trashy!!! Coldle them some more you SOB"S
What is really amazing in all this is that many so called conservatives in this country have a house-keeper, ranch-hand, handyman, or fruit/vegetable laborer that is illegal!
What's really amazing is that some people still vote democrat.
If you really love this country and want to be here then go and learn our constitution, language, history then apply and pay taxes like everyone else. Would it be any different if I wanted to go become a citizen of another country?
It will take at least four years to repeal and reverse everything that the Traitor in Chief has done to destroy this nation ...
Oh goodness...I fear his path of destruction will take far longer than 4 years!
Right and that's why it doesn't really matter how much it upsets us now..
Yup and it will take more then 4 yrs to clean up the mess bush made
Knew it wouldn't be long before there was a Bush blaming reference. Enough with that. obama has ruined our economy. His policies are a miserable failure. People see this now and will go to the polls in droves to voice their opinion.
Still blaming Bush, get some new material.
What mess did Bush make exactly you ignorant bottom feeding low-life piece of trash?
he has no clue...just regurgitating some mindless drivel he heard somewhere
Really starting a war with the wrong country without paying for it,turning a surplus into a deficit, 12.5% unemployment when he left office, GDP shrinking into the negative, not addressing the housing bubble, stock market trading at 7000, instead of helping Katrina survivors just gave them 300.00 debit cards.,. do you need more examples
And a hush from the Right wing peanut gallery
Dummy Lopez..
It's absolutely amazing that you would put up a post filled half with lies and the other half out of context non-factual content ... geez, I can't imagine what it must be like walking around everyday and having people laugh at me behind my back - and in your case probably to your face - for being one of the most ignorant and uninformed lying pieces of shiiiit they have ever met ... what a worthless piece of human trash you are.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!! your funny Panther those aren't half truths those are the truth ... sorry to burst your bubble i was asked a questions about what Bush messed up so I answered... Please tell me what are lies and half truths in my post
Its funny you resort to name calling instead or discussing the issues
I guess your looking up come backs from Rush Limbaugh and Trump
Also I'm an independent not a liberal
Why cant we just follow the law and make them enter legally? Why do we have to go thru a bunch of hokie pokie crap to get obama more voters ?
It won't be too long until there's a taco wagon on every street corner....