Federal Program for Young Illegal Immigrants Begins, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

Starting Wednesday, young illegal immigrants in San Diego County are eligible for legal status under a new federal program that allows immigrants who arrived in the United States as children to stay in the country legally for two years.

Nearly 2 million young illegal immigrants are expected to be eligible to benefit from the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Under the plan, eligible young illegal immigrants who pay a $465 application fee and receive approval from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will be given legal authorization to work and a two-year deferral from deportation.

The work permit allows the immigrants to apply for Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses, open bank accounts and secure other benefits.

To be eligible, immigrants must be younger than 31 and have arrived before the age of 16. They must also have no criminal record. Education requirements that were part of the original wording of the plan were removed on Tuesday.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals plan is a lighter version of the controversial Dream Act, which failed in Congress in 2010 and would have granted immediate legal status to undocumented youths. During the deferral period, young immigrants can get their affairs in order in preparation for trying to secure U.S. citizenship.

Critics of the Deferred Action plan, including most Republicans, argue it will create a backlog for U.S. Citizens and Immigrant Services and a further financial strain on the country. Proponents fire back that the $465 application fee will help offset the plan’s financial impact.

Forms are posted at www.uscis.gov/childhoodarrivals and can be filed online. But immigration attorney Jacob Saposchnick told NBC 7/39 that applicants should not rush to file without receiving some guidance.

“If you miss something on the form, if you don’t do it correctly, that’s it, it’s over,” he said. “There’s no way to appeal it.”

A coalition of immigrants’ rights groups is meeting in San Diego Wednesday to celebrate the start of the plan, which they say is meant for the “dreamers” who want nothing more than a better life for themselves and their families. The plan’s supporters are expected to release more information about upcoming workshops being held locally to help applicants.

-City News Service