Who Are The Young People Eligible for the President’s “Deferred Action” Initiative

According to the deferred action policy, young undocumented immigrants who got into the United States, as children are eligible to receive deferred action. Their deportation will be postponed for two years for which they are granted deferred action. As much as 1.4 million undocumented immigrants in the country may become eligible to request deferred action as they meet the eligibility requirements for deferred action. Around half the number of eligible undocumented immigrants live in Texas and California. But other American states also have significant number of undocumented immigrants from every part of the world. Most of the undocumented immigrants in the United States are from Mexico. Apart from Mexicans, there are many undocumented immigrants who are from Asia, South America, Europe and various other parts of the world.

Young people who are eligible for the deferred action process, are the undocumented immigrants who are below age 31 and above 15 and they must have entered the country when they were below age 15. Such undocumented immigrants to become eligible for the deferred action process should have resided within the United States, continuously for 5 years. Their physical presence in the country as of June 15, 2012 and at the time of submitting their requests, is mandatory. Moreover, the requesters must not have any legal immigration status in the country. If they had entered lawfully, then they must prove that their lawful status expired on or before 15th June, 2012. The application filed by an undocumented immigrant will be considered for deferred action, if he has been issued a final deportation order or if he was never placed in removal proceedings. Young undocumented immigrants who are currently in school or those who hold a high school completion certificate alone are eligible to request deferred action. Otherwise, the applicant must be an honorably discharged veteran from the US Coast Guard or Armed Forces, to request deferred action. In order to prove all the above, you must mail Form I-821D, along with the documents that will establish your eligibility. Undocumented immigrants who were convicted of punishable offenses may not be eligible to request deferred action. Moreover the undocumented immigrants who pass the background checks will only be eligible to receive deferred action.

However, children below age 15 may not be eligible to request deferred action, but they may become eligible in future, if the deferred action process is in effect. Though this process is not a permanent solution, it will help a lot of undocumented immigrants, who do not want to be removed from the country. Undocumented immigrants who are considered to be of low-priority for the enforcement of the US immigration laws will be benefited through this process. They may file Form I-821D, to request deferred action by providing the required supporting documentation to prove that they are eligible to receive deferred action. These undocumented immigrants who receive deferred action will receive federal work permits and driver's licenses. Hence, the President's deferred action/Acción diferida initiative will grant a temporary relief from deportation to the law-abiding young undocumented immigrants.