USA IMMIGRATION PROVIDE TWO YEARS WORK PERMIT TO UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS WHO ARRIVED AS CHILD ILLEGALLY BEFORE THEIR 16TH BIRTHDAYS BUT ONE SUCH IMMIGRANT HAS BIG QUESTION IN MIND FROM WHERE WE WILL BE ABLE TO PAY THE APPLICATION FEES OF $ 456 WHICH MOST DO NOT HAVE WITH THEM 8TH JANUARY 2014 A year and a half ago, President Barack Obama announced a band-aid for the immigration system, providing two-year work permits for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children before their 16th birthdays. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivalsprogram had undocumented immigrants rejoicing that the door to the US had opened, if only slightly. Yet Reyna Maldonado, who came to the US from Mexico as a child, hasnt felt like celebrating. There was one big question weighing on her mind: Where do we come up with this money? Maldonado, who is currently in the process of applying for DACA, is not the only one questioning the costs of the application, which can prove prohibitively high. In the first year of its existence, DACA fell short of reaching the estimated 1.09 million undocumented immigrants who are eligible for the program. Only 567,563 people applied, half in the three months following the programs launch, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Many have blamed the slow rate of applications on the lack of outreach to immigrant communities, and those communities deeply embedded fear of deportation. While DACA program does not offer a path to citizenship, it does provide working permits to those who qualify, allowing them to obtain essential documents like social security number and a drivers license – if they have the time and money. Anecdotally, the expense also may discourage undocumented immigrants, like Maldonado, from applying. Cost has been one of the top reasons why people eligible for DACA delay their application, says Sarah Hooker, policy analyst at Migration Policy Institute. The $456 application fee, while minuscule to most middle-class Americans, has played a large role in preventing young undocumented immigrants from applying for work permits. According to a recent MPI report, 35% of those eligible for DACA live in families with incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level. That means a family of five lives on annual income of $27,570 or less.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 04:47:41 +0000
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