The Department of Homeland Security has approved its first wave of
applications from young illegal immigrants seeking to avoid deportation
and apply for official work permits. The federal department is notifying
its first set of applicants this week that they have been approved to
remain in the U.S. for a two-year period as part of the Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
USCIS first started accepting applications for the DACA program three
weeks ago. According to news sources, over 70,000 people have applied
for the program. Background checks and fingerprinting are being
conducted on each person applying for DACA consideration. The average
wait time, according to the Department of Homeland Security is between
four and six months. Applicants must have first come to the U.S. before
they were 16 years old, be age 30 or younger and be high school
graduates, in college or have served in the military.
