DAPA and Expanded DACA on Hold for Court Review

Posted March 3, 2015

A Texas federal court has issued a preliminary injunction against President Obama’s executive orders regarding deferred action for undocumented immigrants.  The court’s action thus freezes implementation of the Deferred Action for Parents of U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents (DAPA) and the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs.  The Department of Justice is seeking an emergency stay of the preliminary injunction pending appeal of the case to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.  The stay is unlikely to succeed and therefore the case will likely be heard on appeal, which will take some time, perhaps months.

The original 2012 DACA program remains in effect.  If you are a first-time applicant for deferred action, or need to renew your DACA status and employment authorization for an additional two-year period, AND you meet the eligibility criteria (see USCIS guidelines), USCIS is accepting applications despite judicial review of the new programs.

If you believe you may qualify for either DAPA or the expanded DACA program, you should continue to gather documents which demonstrate the length of time you have lived in the United States, and documents that demonstrate your relationship to a qualifying U.S. citizen or permanent resident child (for DAPA applicants).  If the filing window opens, the window of opportunity may not be long to earn deferred action status in the United States.

Contact us today for assistance.

 

 

 

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USCIS Posts Information About DACA and DAPA

Posted February 3, 2015

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has posted information and general guidance online regarding the upcoming programs for expanded deferred action proposed by President Obama.  Read about the programs here.  Expanded rules for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), including a three-year grant of deferred action and employment authorization and a U.S. arrival date advanced to Jan. 1, 2010, are set to begin on February 18.  DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents) is slated to begin in May.  Contact us for today assistance and advice.

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WAIT FOR IT. . .

Posted September 6, 2014

Upholding the time-honored maxim that indecision is the key to flexibility, President Obama has decided to delay any executive action on immigration until after the November elections.

The apparent political calculation bears enormous risk.  If the GOP wins the Senate, any such action would likely be scaled back to reflect shifting American sentiment on illegal immigration, lest the president feel that a looming lame duck stature would free his hand to cement a legacy through executive action that precedes narrower reform legislation.  If the Democrats retain control of the Senate, presumably comprehensive reform legislation would be back on the table, the House would continue to oppose, and the president can do as he pleases through executive action while blaming inaction on House Republicans.

Confused? Lo siento.  Law, as I say, is politics.

Deferred action clients: Your renewal period is approaching.  DACA remains in place.  Don’t delay!  Submit your bid for two more years of employment and prosecutorial discretion today.  The earliest you can re-apply is five months prior to the expiration of your current deferred action period.

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House Cons Push Law to Obey Law; Prez Counters with Plea to Humanity

Posted March 14, 2014

In the latest round of dueling press releases disguised as serious legislative action, the House of Representatives this week passed the ENFORCE the Law Act of 2014 (H.R. 4138), a Moses-like edict to the president to obey the law, to which the president quickly answered with a public event in the ornate East Room of the White House where he promised to kick illegal aliens out of the country more humanely.

ENFORCE in this instance stands for Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enactments.  At best, one can applaud House Republicans for scrounging in their late-night scrabble for a suitable ‘R’ in this farcical legislative proposal.

Pres. Obama, meanwhile, has linked arms with the Hispanic caucus and confessed his true obsession: that he’d rather be Pope than President.

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