Congratulations Dreamers: Secretary Napolitano Announces Deferred Action Process for Young People Who Are Low Enforcement Priorities

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that effective immediately, certain young people who were brought to the United States as young children, do not present a risk to national security or public safety, and meet several key criteria will be considered for relief from removal from the country or from entering into removal proceedings. Those who demonstrate that they meet the criteria will be eligible to receive deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal, and will be eligible to apply for work authorization.

“Our nation’s immigration laws must be enforced in a firm and sensible manner,” said Secretary Napolitano. “But they are not designed to be blindly enforced without consideration given to the individual circumstances of each case. Nor are they designed to remove productive young people to countries where they may not have lived or even speak the language. Discretion, which is used in so many other areas, is especially justified here.”

DHS continues to focus its enforcement resources on the removal of individuals who pose a national security or public safety risk, including immigrants convicted of crimes, violent criminals, felons, and repeat immigration law offenders. Today’s action further enhances the Department’s ability to focus on these priority removals.

Under this directive, individuals who demonstrate that they meet the following criteria will be eligible for an exercise of discretion, specifically deferred action, on a case by case basis:

1. Came to the United States under the age of sixteen;
   
2. Have continuously resided in the United States for a least five years preceding the date of this memorandum and are present in the United States on the date of this memorandum;
   
3. Are currently in school, have graduated from high school, have obtained a general education development certificate, or are honorably discharged veterans of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States;
   
4. Have not been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offense, multiple misdemeanor offenses, or otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety;
   
5. Are not above the age of thirty.

Only those individuals who can prove through verifiable documentation that they meet these criteria will be eligible for deferred action. Individuals will not be eligible if they are not currently in the United States and cannot prove that they have been physically present in the United States for a period of not less than 5 years immediately preceding today’s date. Deferred action requests are decided on a case-by-case basis. DHS cannot provide any assurance that all such requests will be granted. The use of prosecutorial discretion confers no substantive right, immigration status, or pathway to citizenship. Only the Congress, acting through its legislative authority, can confer these rights.

While this guidance takes effect immediately, USCIS and ICE expect to begin implementation of the application processes within sixty days. In the meantime, individuals seeking more information on the new policy should visit USCIS’s website (at www.uscis.gov), ICE’s website (atwww.ice.gov), or DHS’s website (at www.dhs.gov). Beginning Monday, individuals can also call USCIS’ hotline at 1-800-375-5283 or ICE’s hotline at 1-888-351-4024 during business hours with questions or to request more information on the forthcoming process.

For individuals who are in removal proceedings and have already been identified as meeting the eligibility criteria and have been offered an exercise of discretion as part of ICE’s ongoing case-by-case review, ICE will immediately begin to offer them deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal.

USCIS to Centralize Filing and Adjudication for Certain Waviers of Inadmissibility in the United States

New System Will Standardize Process for Immigrant Visa Applicants Worldwide


Beginning June 4, 2012, individuals abroad who have applied for certain visas and have been found ineligible by a U.S. Consular Officer, will be able to mail requests to waive certain grounds of inadmissibility directly to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Lockbox facility. This change affects where individuals abroad, who have been found inadmissible for an immigrant visa or a non-immigrant K or V visa, must send their waiver applications.

Currently, applicants experience processing times from one-month to more than a year depending on their filing location. This centralization will provide customers with faster and more efficient application processing and consistent adjudication. It is part of a broader agency effort to transition to domestic filing and adjudication; it does not reflect a change in policy or the standards by which the applications are adjudicated. Individuals filing waiver applications with a USCIS Lockbox will now be able to track the status of their case online.

The change affects filings for:

• Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility
• Form I-212, Application for Permission to Reapply for Admission into the United States After Deportation or Removal
• Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion, (if filed after a denial of a Form I-601 or Form I-212).

Applicants who mail their waiver request forms should use the address provided in the revisedform instructions on the USCIS website. Applicants who wish to receive an email or text message when USCIS has received their waiver request may attach Form G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance, to their application.

During a limited six-month transition period, immigrant visa waiver applicants in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, will have the option to either mail their waiver applications to the USCIS Lockbox in the United States or file in-person at the USCIS office in Ciudad Juarez. USCIS is aware of the pending caseload for applicants in Ciudad Juarez and is taking proactive steps to work through these cases. USCIS will significantly increase the number of officers assigned to adjudicate the residual cases filed before June 4, and those filed during the interim six-month transition period. USCIS has already begun to test this process and has transferred applications from Ciudad Juarez to other USCIS offices in the United States.  

USCIS Changes Look and Feel of Form I-797C

On April 2, 2012, USCIS  issued Form I-797C, Notice of Action, with a new look and feel. USCIS will print the Form I-797C on plain bond paper. This change is estimated to save the agency about $1.1 million per year. 

This form change will help reduce public perception that the Form I-797C demonstrates evidence of an immigration benefit or status. The top of the new Form I-797C will clearly display: “THIS NOTICE DOES NOT GRANT ANY IMMIGRATION STATUS OR BENEFIT.” The following is a sample of how this disclaimer will appear on the Form I-797C:

Please note, the Form I-797C, Notice of Action is used ONLY for certain types of communication between individuals and the agency including notifications of:

• Receipt (notifies the customer that their payment and application/petition has been received by USCIS)
• Rejection (notifies the customer that their application/petition has been rejected due to incorrect information or payment)
• Transfer (notifies the customer that their case was relocated to another USCIS office for processing)
• Re-Open (notifies the customer that USCIS has approved a motion to re-open their completed case and it is being processed)
• Appointment (notifies the customer that they have an appointment with USCIS to obtain fingerprint or biometric capture, to attend an interview, or that their appointment has been rescheduled)

Form I-797C appointment notices will also contain disability accommodation information on the back of the form.  Previously this information was included as a separate flyer that was sent along with the notice.  Printing this information on the back of the form will save additional resources by consolidating the notice and disability information into one form.

Form I-797C Notice of Actions issued before April 2, 2012, will remain valid. This change to Form I-797C is part of our ongoing efforts to improve customer service while enhancing agency operations. 

USCIS Proposes Process Change for Certain Waivers of Inadmissibility

Proposal would reduce time that U.S. citizens are separated from immediate relatives U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register  that would reduce the time U.S. citizens are separated from their spouses, children, and parents (i.e. immediate relatives) who must obtain an immigrant visa abroad to become lawful permanent residents of the United States. This rule would allow certain immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to apply for a provisional waiver of the unlawful presence ground of inadmissibility while still in the United States if they can demonstrate that being separated from their U.S. citizen spouse or parent would cause that U.S. citizen relative extreme hardship. The proposed rule will not alter how USCIS determines eligibility for a waiver of inadmissibility or how an individual establishes extreme hardship. “The law is designed to avoid extreme hardship to U.S. citizens, which is precisely what this proposed rule will more effectively achieve,” said USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas. “The current process can subject U.S. citizens to months of separation from family members who are waiting for their cases to be processed overseas.  The proposed change will have tremendous impact on families by significantly reducing the time of separation.” USCIS also proposes creating a new form for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who choose to apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver. Once in effect, this form would be used for individuals filing an application for a provisional unlawful presence application before he or she departs the United States to complete the immigrant visa process at a U.S. Embassy or consulate abroad. The streamlined process would only apply to immediate relatives who are otherwise eligible for an immigrant visa based on an approved immediate relative petition. The proposed process outlined above is not in effect and is not available until USCIS publishes a final rule with an effective date in the Federal Register. USCIS will consider all public comments on the proposed rule announced today before publishing the final rule in the coming months. Individuals at this time should not to submit an application for a provisional unlawful presence waiver, or allow anyone to submit one on their behalf because it will be rejected. Source: www.uscis.gov

Secretary Napolitano announced the designation of Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), based on deteriorating security conditions in Syria. The effective dates for the designation, as well as dates and procedures for the TPS registration process, will be detailed in a Federal Register notice that publishes next week. Applications should not be submitted until the designation becomes effective. 

Source: www.uscis.gov 

I-601 Provisional Waiver Is Not in Effect, Yet.

USCIS is considering changes that would allow certain immediate relatives (the spouse, children or parents of a U.S. citizen) who can demonstrate extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen spouse or parent to receive a provisional waiver of the unlawful presence bars before leaving the United States.

These procedures are not in effect and will not be available to potential applicants until USCIS publishes a final rule in the Federal Register specifying the effective date. USCIS plans to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the coming months and will consider all comments received as part of that process before publishing a final rule.

·         Do not send an application requesting a provisional waiver at this time. USCIS will reject any application requesting this new process and we will return the application package and any related fees to the applicant. USCIS cannot accept applications until a final rule is issued and the process change becomes effective. 

·         Be aware that some unauthorized practitioners of immigration law may wrongly claim they can currently file a provisional waiver application (Form I-601) for you. These same individuals may ask you to pay them to file such forms although the process is not yet in place. Please avoid such scams. USCIS wants you to learn the facts about protecting yourself and your family against scammers by visiting uscis.gov/avoidscams.

If you already have an immigrant visa interview with the U.S. Department of State, we strongly encourage you to attend. The Department of State may cancel your immigrant visa registration if you fail to appear at this interview.

Source: www.uscis.gov 

The new Queens Field Office.

USCIS FIELD OFFICE IN QUEENS, NEW YORK

QUEENS FIELD OFFICE

27-35 JACKSON AVENUE

QUEENS, NEW YORK 11101

The new Queens Field Office is a full-service USCIS facility with the capacity of approximately 500 customers a day. The office will serve residents of Queens and Brooklyn.

The new facility is the result of a national effort by USCIS to create a more accessible, efficient, and customer-friendly office spaces. The new Queens office is easily accessible by subway or bus.

Business hours are 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM, Monday through Friday. The office is closed on Federal holidays.

Daily, the 100 USCIS federal and contract employees of the Queens Field Office have the capacity to:

·      Interview 120 naturalization applications

·      Provide face-to-face assistance through INFOPASS appointments to 50 members of the public

·      Interview 50 adjustment of status (greencard) applicants

·      Process 100 Biometrics appointments (to capture fingerprints, ID photos, and signatures as part of application process)

The Queens facility features innovative customer service tools such as Infopass (a convenient, internet-based system that allows customers to schedule general customer service appointments at a kiosk in the office or on-line at www.infopass.uscis.gov), a spacious waiting area, private offices for conducting interviews, and a naturalization ceremony room.

The office is co-located with an Application Support Center, meaning that customers can complete the Biometric capture portion of their application (ID photo, fingerprint, and signature capture) at the Queens office.

The office occupies 48,328 square feet of space on two floors of a four-story building. The office space was formerly a warehouse, and all new systems were installed including electrical, plumbing, and heating and air conditioning. In additional a new elevator was installed for public access on the second floor. 

What Was True Purpose of Immigration 'Road Show'?

The House of Representatives' unprecedented series of after-the-fact immigration "hearings" has finally, mercifully, concluded. Pre-empting the standard process for reconciling differences between House and Senate bills, House leaders decreed the Senate immigration bill contrary to the will of the people and, purportedly to prove that dubious assertion, staged some 30-odd "field hearings" around the country.

House leaders claimed a lofty public purpose for the hearings: to engage the American public in a nationwide debate over immigration policy (by spotlighting the Senate bill's pitfalls). Even when first uttered, however, that claimed purpose rang untrue; now, months later, we all know that it was patently false.

 

Recall that these same leaders rammed their enforcement-only immigration bill (H.R. 4437) through the House a mere 10 days after the bill was first introduced. No meaningful debate was allowed, no bipartisan alternatives considered and no stakeholder input secured. Ten days to rubberstamp a never-before-seen policy proposal for one of the most complex domestic issues of the day. Where was the call for national debate then?

 

Isn't it possible, you might ask, that changed circumstances - for example, millions of people rallying across the country against their bill - really did trigger a change of heart and propel the House to engage the American public?

 

If so, they sure have a funny way of "engaging." Instead of a balanced set of hearings encouraging audience participation, the House gave us two months of traveling Kabuki Theater with comically stilted witness lineups, inflammatory hearing titles, simplistic pre-scripted themes and no community input.

 

So then, why the hearings, why the waste of our time and money? A cynical, but realistic, explanation is that political strategists calling the shots believed that negotiating with the Senate would create a lose-lose dynamic for House Republican candidates in the November elections: Fail to compromise and suffer the charge that Republicans are ineffective, or find a middle ground and get attacked by party hard-liners as supporting amnesty.

 

Staging hearings certainly accomplished the goal of delaying negotiations. And eschewing pragmatism for ideological fervor may indeed serve the short- term electoral interests of some House Republicans - although most polls indicate that the House approach is unpopular with voters, including most Republicans. But derailing a bona fide opportunity to resolve a pressing domestic policy conundrum will surely cost the nation (and likely the majority party) in the long run.

Employment Preferences Visa Availability

This is an addendum to the Visa Chart that was published last month for November 2005.

Section D.

 

The backlog reduction efforts of both Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Labor continue to result in very heavy demand for Employment-based numbers. The amount of cases currently being processed is sufficient to use all available numbers in many categories. The level of demand in the Employment categories is expected to be far in excess of the annual limits, and once established, cut-off date movements are likely to be slow.

 

WHAT CAUSES THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CUT-OFF DATES?

 

The Visa Office subdivides the annual preference and foreign state limitations specified in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) into twelve monthly allotments. The totals of documentarily qualified applicants that have been reported to VO are compared each month with the numbers available for the next regular allotment and numbers are allocated to reported applicants in order of their priority dates, the oldest dates first.

 

If there are sufficient numbers in a particular category to satisfy all reported documentarily qualified demand, the category is considered "Current." For example, if the Employment Third preference monthly target is 5,000 and there are only 3,000 applicants, the category is considered "Current".

Whenever the total of documentarily qualified applicants in a category exceeds the supply of numbers available for allotment for the particular month, the category is considered to be "oversubscribed" and a visa availability cut-off date is established. The cut-off date is the priority date of the first documentarily qualified applicant who could not be accommodated for a visa number. For example, if the Employment Third preference monthly target is 5,000 and there are 15,000 applicants, a cut-off date would be established so that only 5,000 numbers would be used, and the cut-off date would be the priority date of the 5,001st applicant.

 

WILL THERE BE CUT-OFF DATES FOR ANY ADDITIONAL FOREIGN STATES IN THE FIRST AND SECOND PREFERENCE CATEGORIES?

 

It may be necessary to establish a cut-off date for the "All Chargeability Areas" Second preference category at some point during the second half of the fiscal year. It is too early to estimate whether future demand will warrant such action. As of October 1st, cut-off dates for the First and Second preferences for China and India were established due to heavy demand; cut-off date movement is expected to be limited until a demand pattern has been determined.

 

WHY ARE THERE CUT-OFF DATES THIS YEAR AS OPPOSED TO PREVIOUS YEARS, WHEN THE CATEGORIES WERE CURRENT?

 

While the Employment categories had been "Current" for almost four years, several important factors affected the decision to implement cut-offs for FY-2006.

 

Prior to July 2001, demand for Employment numbers was such that cut-off dates were in effect for many categories, and that is the case once again for FY-2006. 

 

The reasons the Employment categories had become current were: 

• The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (AC21) recaptured a "pool" of 131,000 Employment numbers unused in fiscal years 1999 and 2000, and allowed those recaptured numbers to be used by the oversubscribed countries, and

• The substantial decline in demand for numbers for adjustment of status cases prevented the annual limits from being reached for several years.

• In FY-2006, we are faced with continuing heavy demand due to the DHS and DOL backlog reduction efforts, along with an Employment limit which is approximately 40% lower than that of FY-2005. The lower annual Employment limit is a result of the virtual elimination of the "pool" of recaptured AC21 numbers, returning us to the pre-July 2001 situation.

 

WHAT ABOUT SCHEDULE A NUMBERS?

 

The 50,000 Schedule A numbers will provide relief to many Employment preference applicants, since any Schedule A applicant whose priority date is beyond the relevant Employment preference cut-off date can be processed and charged against the 50,000 limit. It is expected that Schedule A numbers will be available on a "Current" basis throughout all of FY-2006.

 

HOW IS THE EMPLOYMENT-BASED PER-COUNTRY LIMIT CALCULATED?

 

Section 201 of the INA sets an annual minimum Family-sponsored preference limit of 226,000, while the worldwide annual level for Employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000. Section 202 sets the per-country limit for preference immigrants at 7% of the total annual Family-sponsored and Employment-based preference limits, i.e. a minimum of 25,620.

 

The annual per-country limitation of 7% is a cap, meaning visa issuances to any single country may not exceed this figure. This limitation is not a quota to which any particular country is entitled, however. The per-country limitation serves to avoid monopolization of virtually all the visa numbers by applicants from only a few countries. 

 

The AC21 removed the per-country limit in any calendar quarter in which overall applicant demand for Employment-based visa numbers is less than the total of such numbers available.

 

In recent years, the application of the rules outlined in AC21 has allowed countries such as China - mainland born, India, and the Philippines to utilize large amounts of employment numbers which would have otherwise gone unused. 

 

During FY-2006, due to anticipated heavy demand, the AC21 provisions are not expected to apply, and the amount of Employment numbers available to any single country will be subject to the 7% cap. It is anticipated that the addition of unused FY-2005 Family numbers and the remaining AC21 numbers to the 140,000 annual minimum will result in an FY-2006 annual Employment limit of 152,000. This will mean an Employment per-country limit for FY-2006 of approximately 10,650. 

 

To illustrate the effect of the reduced per-county limitation during FY-2006 on the oversubscribed countries, it should be noted that during FY-2005 India used approximately 47,175 Employment numbers.

American Immigration Lawyers Association Exposes Immigration Myths

America is a country of immigrants; yet today, the subject of immigration is quite controversial. The issue divides communities and politicians alike due to the many misconceptions that abound surrounding this matter.

The United States currently houses a larger population of undocumented migrants than at any point in its history. In the 1990s, more than 9 million legal immigrants were admitted to the 

U.S. In 2005, 11 million foreign-born individuals were living in the country in an undocumented status.

 

According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association, these migrants are typically alienated from the rest of American society, economically vulnerable, and fearful of contact with social institutions that provide health care and education.

 

"America's immigration system is broken and needs to be reformed so that immigration is legal, safe, orderly and reflective of the needs of American families, businesses and national security," said Deborah Notkin, past president of AILA.  

While the large numbers of immigrants have led some to conclude that the country has lost control of its borders, officials at AILA say that the true causes and dynamics of immigration cannot be so easily compartmentalized.

 

"Developing effective immigration policies requires overcoming the prevalent myths about immigration," she said.

 

One misperception, Notkin said, is that migration occurs because there is a lack of economic development in migrants' home countries. In actuality, international migrants do not originate in the world's poorest nations, but in those that are developing and growing dynamically. Mexico, for example, the largest single source of U.S. immigrants, is not a poor nation by global standards. It has an industrialized, $1 trillion economy and a per capita income of almost $9,000.

 

Another myth is that migrants are attracted to the United States by generous public benefits. In reality, immigrants are less likely than natives to use public services, and 5 percent or less report using food stamps or welfare.

 

"There also is the misunderstanding that most immigrants intend to settle permanently in the United States," Notkin said.

 

Mexico-U.S migration has been historically circular, with 80 percent of Mexican immigrants reporting that they made no more than three trips to the United States and three-quarters staying less than two years.