New Relief available for certain aliens in the USA

Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals is a new form of relief that is available to some aliens who entered the USA illegally when they were young, or aliens who entered legally when they were young, but are now out of status and still residing in the USA. This new immigration relief was made available on August 15^th, 2012 as a result of President Barack Obama’s new executive order, which seems to have a lot in common with the DREAM ACT, which has yet to be passed by Congress. Perhaps this new relief Deferred Action will be a precursor to the DREAM ACT because of its similarities in purpose and scope.

The purpose of the new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is to provide persons who qualify, with a work permit and a stay of any removal proceedings that USCIS or ICE could bring against these aliens.  With a stay of any proceedings and a work permit, aliens could then apply for a social security number and then come out from living under the radar of ICE to obtain a driver license and other forms of identification, which would help them achieve some sort of temporary protected status in the USA.

          In order to qualify for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the alien must meet the following criteria:

1. entered the US before reaching their 16^th
   birthday;
2. were under the age of 31 as of June 15^th,
   2012;
3. continuously resided in the US since June 15^th, 2007
   to the present;
4. are present in the US on June 15^th, 2012
   and when submitting the application;
5. entered without inspection before June 15^th,
   2012 or status expired on June 15^th, 2012;
6. currently in school of obtained a GED or have been
   honorably discharged from US
   military service or coast guard;
7. have not been convicted of a felony, or significant
   misdemeanors, three (3) or more misdemeanors, and not a threat to national
   security.

If you meet the above criteria, you should be able to prove the above through documentation which could be provided in many different forms (i.e. school records, passport stamps, previous driver licenses, utility bills, bank account records, etc.)

       I would strongly suggest that aliens apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals because usually when aliens are provided with some relief from being illegal or out of status in the USA, those who sought out the benefit will be eligible to qualify under any future laws passed by Congress, which provide the ability to convert their status into a more permanent form of relief, like becoming a lawful permanent resident (i.e. lawful permanent residence through amnesty, see for example the CSS & Lulac Settlement Agreements and ABC vs. INS Settlement Agreement.)

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