Articles Posted in Immigration Reform

On November 20, 2014, the President of the United States announced the eligibility criteria for exercising prosecutorial discretion through the use of deferred action for Parents of U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents . This deferred action program will be for a period of three years and will be subject to renewal. As a result of the deferred action, the applicant may be eligible for work authorization.

Determinations will be made on a case-by-case basis. Individuals must prove through documentation that they meet the guidelines for deferred action. Anyone who is granted deferred action is not a lawful US citizen, nor a Lawful Permanent Resident. No permanent legal status is provided through DAPA. DAPA is only a temporary grant of relief from deportation.

You may request consideration of Deferred Action if you*:

On November 20, 2014, the President of the United States announced that several key eligibility requirements under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) would be revised to encompass a larger amount of qualified DREAMERS. Additionally, this expansion of the DACA program will be for a period of three years, not two years. DACA remains subject to renewal. As a result of the deferred action, the applicant may be eligible for work authorization.

As the USCIS has done in the past, determinations will be made on a case-by-case basis. Individuals must prove through documentation that they meet the guidelines for deferred action. Anyone who is granted deferred action is not a lawful US citizen, nor a Lawful Permanent Resident. No permanent legal status is provided through DACA. DACA is only a temporary grant of relief from deportation.

You may request consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals if you*:

The White House Blog and White House Facebook page posted an announcement yesterday that on Thursday, November 20th at 8 p.m. ET, President Obama will lay out the Executive Actions he’s planning on taking to fix America’s broken Immigration system. The Nation can watch LIVE at WhiteHouse.gov/Live, and more than likely every major television news channel will also be carrying his address.

President Obama stated, “Everybody agrees that our immigration system is broken. Unfortunately, Washington has allowed the problem to fester for too long.” Further, he said, “So what I’m going to be laying out is the things that I can do with my lawful authority as President to make the system work better even as I continue to work with Congress and encourage them to get a bipartisan, comprehensive bill that can solve the entire problem”.

Exactly WHAT the President will do remains unknown, as there is much speculation about whom and how many people may benefit from the President’s Executive Action. We must wait as a Nation to hear of the details, as they have not been released to the Public.

On October 2, 2014, the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) published the article, “Executive Grants of Temporary Immigration Relief, 1956-Present”. The publication points out that since 1956, every United States President has used their executive power to grant temporary immigration relief of some form. This article includes an easy to read chart listing thirty-nine (39) different examples, some big, some small, of Immigration related Executive Decisions. These Presidential decisions were made for a variety of reasons; legislation was pending, in response to humanitarian emergencies or to address situations that existing laws couldn’t handle. Please review the article listed below for more detailed information and to view the chart.

Source of Information:

immigrationpolicy.org, 10/2/14, Just the Facts – Article:

On Saturday, September 6, 2014, President Obama made the announcement that he would delay executive action on Immigration Reform until after the midterm congressional elections.

In a pre-recorded Interview for NBC’s “Meet the Press,” on Sunday, September 7, 2014 President Obama told NBC’s Chuck Todd, that the immigration debate was affected by the large number of unaccompanied children from Latin America coming to the U.S. border.

President Obama stated, “What I’m saying is that I’m going to act because it’s the right thing for the country.” The President also said, “… it’s going to be more sustainable and more effective if the public understands what the facts are on immigration, what we’ve done on unaccompanied children and why it’s necessary.”

The President had many great things to say yesterday (1/28/14) during his State of the Union (SOTU) 2014 address to Congress and the American people! The two main things President Obama stated concerning Immigration were: (1) that it will grow the economy and reduce the deficit; and (2) the U.S. Senate has acted and now it is time for the U.S. House of Representatives to act!

I have included the excerpt from President Obama’s SOTU 2014 speech that mentions Immigration Reform. I have also included a link below to the complete text of the speech. You can read it for yourself and make up your own mind. The President says, “Let’s get it done.” and we at MVP agree!

“Finally, if we’re serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, law enforcement – and fix our broken immigration system. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have acted. And I know that members of both parties in the House want to do the same. Independent economists say immigration reform will grow our economy and shrink our deficits by almost $1 trillion in the next two decades. And for good reason: When people come here to fulfill their dreams – to study, invent, contribute to our culture – they make our country a more attractive place for businesses to locate and create jobs for everybody. So let’s get immigration reform done this year. Let’s get it done. It’s time….” – President Barack Obama, excerpt from SOTU 2014 speech (1/28/14)

On December 10th, Staff and Members of both the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council (AIC) joined together to fast (no food) for 24 hours to support the need for Immigration Reform. AILA is using this event to show its support for the group “Fast4Families” which has been fasting for more than 20 days to push congress to pass Immigration Reform in this country! AILA Executive Director Crystal Williams stated, “I joined this fast for one simple reason: because our country needs House leadership to bring immigration reform legislation up for a vote.”

Source of Information:

– AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 13121040 (posted 12/10/13): AILA and AIC Staff are Joined by over 150 AILA Members in Fast for Immigration Reform

The DC Pro Bono Week (Oct. 19–26) presented by the Washington Council of Lawyers (WCL) finished the week with an Immigration Reform Clinic on Saturday, Oct. 26th, 2013 in Arlington, VA. The Immigration Reform Clinic which was sponsored by the DC Chapter of AILA and Equal Justice Works included a forum on Potential Immigration Reform and Stopping Notario Fraud. MVP Law Group‘s Managing Attorney, Kellie Lego was one of the Attorney Panelists presenting at the clinic.

List of Panelists:

Julia Toro – Attorney, Private Practice Adonia R. Simpson –Attorney, Non-profit Kellie Lego – Attorney, Private Practice Lory D. Rosenberg – Attorney, Private Practice Anne Schaufele – Law Clerk, Non-profit

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