The
Obama administration on Tuesday directed young illegal immigrants to
fill out new forms and pay $465 if they want to apply under a new
program that would let them avoid deportation and obtain a U.S.
work permit.
The
government renewed warnings that the process wouldn't lead to
citizenship or give them permission to travel internationally. It will
begin accepting immigrants' applications Wednesday.
The paperwork for the program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, can be downloaded from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
website, said the agency's director, Alejandro Mayorkas. Applicants
must pay a $465 fee and provide proof of identity and eligibility.
Under
guidelines that the administration announced Tuesday, the agency said
proof of identity and eligibility under the program could include a
passport or birth certificate, school transcripts, medical and financial
records and military service records. DHS said that in some instances,
multiple sworn affidavits, signed by a third party under penalty of
perjury, could also be used.
With
the start of the program nearing, immigrants have been working on
getting their paperwork in order. Tuesday morning, 23-year-old Evelyn Medina,
from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, was in line at that country's consulate in
Washington about 6:30 a.m. to secure a passport. With her passport in
hand, Medina was all smiles as she walked out of the building just
before 2 p.m., saying "finally" as she clutched the document.
Medina said she has been in the United States for about 10 years and is currently a student at a Maryland college, hoping to eventually earn a master's degree and become a social worker.
She wasn't alone. Leonardo Irias Navas, head of the consular section at the Embassy of Honduras, said the number of people applying for passports has more than doubled in the last week.
A
decision on each application could take several months, and immigrants
have been warned not to leave the country while their application is
pending. If they are allowed to stay in the United States and want to
travel internationally, they will need to apply for permission to come
back into the country, a request that would cost $360 more.
The
administration announced the plan in June to stop deporting many
illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. To be eligible,
immigrants must prove they arrived in the United States before they
turned 16, are 30 or younger, have been living here at least five years,
and are in school or graduated or served in the military. They also
cannot have been convicted of certain crimes or otherwise pose a
safety threat.
Mayorkas said being approved to avoid deportation "does not provide lawful status or a path to citizenship."
The announcement came just months before what is shaping up to be a tight contest for the White House. President Barack Obama
has come under fire by Hispanic voters and others who have say he
hasn't fulfilled a previous campaign promise to reform the nation's
immigration laws. The policy change could stop deportations for more
than a million young illegal immigrants who would have qualified for the
failed DREAM Act, which Obama has supported in the past.
Critics of the program, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, have called the policy backdoor amnesty and say they worry about fraud.
"While
potentially millions of illegal immigrants will be permitted to compete
with American workers for scarce jobs, there seems to be little if any
mechanism in place for vetting fraudulent applications and documentation
submitted by illegal immigrants," Smith said Tuesday.
DHS said anyone found to have committed fraud will be referred to federal immigration agents.
The Migration Policy Institute
estimated last week that as many as 1.7 million people could be
eligible to stay in the U.S. and legally work under the new policy.
DHS
officials have repeatedly said the department doesn't have an estimate
on how many people may apply. In an internal document outlining the
program's implementation officials estimated about 1.04 million people
would apply in the first year, and about 890,000 would be eligible.
The document, obtained by The Associated Press,
estimated that the program could cost between $467.7 million and $585.4
million. The department anticipated collecting about $484.2 million
in fees.
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