With today’s launch of the deferred action program that may allow specified undocumented immigrants to apply for a two-year temporary work permit, the federal government says that immigration officials will be scrutinizing applications for fraud. This blog has previously discussed the new immigration policy that may allow young immigrants to get a temporary reprieve from potential deportation proceedings.
The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says that, 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.”
However, USA Today reports that the director also announced Tuesday that the agency “has developed a rigorous review process for deferred action requests,” according to USA Today. The review process was developed under guidelines created by the Department of Homeland Security for deferred action applications.
DHS reportedly does not know how many young immigrants may seek deferred action under the work permit program, However, the Pew Hispanic Center believes as many as 1.7 million immigrants may qualify under the federal immigration guidelines.
Immigration officials say that immigrants must be under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012 to qualify under the program. The immigrant must have come to the U.S. before his or her 16th birthday. Additionally, the immigrant must have no criminal record and there must be proof of educational requirements to qualify.
Many people have raised concerns about what the government may do with information on a deferred action application. DHS officials say that the information is confidential and will not be used to round up undocumented immigrants for potential removal proceedings in immigration court. However, the federal government says that immigration officials will scrutinize the applications for potential untruthful information.
USCIS say is will be looking for lies in the application process. The agency will pull out applicants who provide untruthful information, or immigrants who the agency believes poses a threat to national security or who have serious criminal backgrounds.
Source: USA Today, “Young illegal immigrants can seek deportation reprieve,” Alan Gomez-USA Today and Daniel Gonzalez-The Arizona Republic, Aug. 15, 2012
