Fairfax Immigration Attorneys Comment on Obama’s Executive Action
“We were strangers once, too.”
President Obama spoke tonight, after much anticipation, of his new executive action on immigration. More details should be forthcoming tomorrow and in the days ahead but the outline is taking shape. According to guidance released during his speech, he will expand the categorical application of deferred action to those who:
- have, on November 20, 2014, a son or daughter who is a U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident;
- have continuously resided in the United States since before January 1, 2010;
- physically present in the United States as of November 20, 2014 and at the time of making a request for consideration of deferred action with USCIS;
- have no lawful status as of November 20, 2014.
Other important facets of this apparently wide-ranging action include expansion of the DACA program, extension of all the deferred action programs to 3 years from the previous 2 years; expanding the availability of provisional waiver to certain family members of lawful permanent residents; expansion of advance parole (a critical tool to assist individuals who have previously entered the country without inspection to legally complete the process to obtain permanent residency)
Some questions that still remain include:
- What other limitations have not yet been spelled out? What crimes will disqualify an individual? It appears it will be limited to the framework applied in DACA (no felonies, no “significant misdemeanors,” and no more than two non-significant misdemeanors) but that has not been entirely confirmed.
- Will individuals qualify if they have an adult US Citizen or LPR son or daughter?
- What about step-children? Estranged children?
- Will the application process differ materially from the DACA application process?
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Murray Osorio PLLC are Fairfax Immigration Attorneys dedicated to their clients and to their clients’ families. If you have an immigration matter, it’s important that you contact us as soon as possible. An experienced Fairfax Immigration Lawyer could make all the difference- call us at (800) 929-7142, or fill out our contact form.