Tag: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

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Updates

Latest Court Ruling Orders USCIS to Accept New DACA Applications

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After President Trump announced the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) on September 5, 2017, several lawsuits were filed questioning the validity of the termination. Two court injunctions were already issued by the federal courts in San Francisco and New York ordering the USCIS to continue accepting renewals for the DACA protection. On April 26, 2018, another federal court in the District Court of Columbia also issued an injunction against the termination of the DACA program. With the latest injunction the court ordered USCIS to also accept new DACA applications.

Who will benefit from this latest court ruling?

Joshua entered the United States when he was 7 years old. When the DACA was announced in 2012, Joshua was only 10 years old. When Joshua turned 15 in December 2017, he was not allowed to apply for a DACA application. No new DACA applications were accepted after the announcement of the termination of the DACA protection in September 2017. This is the reason why Joshua has not applied for the DACA protection. Last week, Joshua heard about this new court ruling and wants to apply for the DACA protection and for an employment authorization card. What can he do?

Requirements for DACA

DACA was available to any undocumented young immigrant who:

  1. came to the United States when she was under the age of sixteen;
  2. had lived in the United States continuously since at least June 15, 2007;
  3. was enrolled in school or had graduated from high school or been honorably discharged from the military;
  4. had not been convicted of certain criminal offenses and posed no threat to national security or public safety; and
  5. was under the age of thirty. Young immigrants who are out of status, who met these criteria were eligible for renewable, two-year grants of “deferred action” on their removal from the United States.

Termination of DACA and the Lawsuits

On September 5, 2017, then-Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine C. Duke issued a five-page memorandum rescinding DACA program. USCIS would adjudicate any properly filed DACA applications that were pending as of September 5, 2017, as well as any new applications for the renewal of DACA benefits that were filed on or before October 5, 2017 by persons whose benefits were set to expire on or before March 5, 2018.

On September 8, 2017, the University of California filed a complaint challenging the rescission of the DACA program and asking the court to enjoin the implementation of the rescission. On January 9, 2018, the district court issued an order directing the government to partially maintain the DACA program. As a result, the USCIS issued guidance that they are accepting renewal applications.

On April 24, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that DHS’s decision to rescind DACA was “arbitrary and capricious” and vacated the termination of the program. The court ordered DHS to accept and process new DACA applications, as well as renewal DACA applications – however, it stayed its order for 90 days to give the government a chance to respond. The decision of the court differed from previous court rulings because it would affect new applications – i.e. initial applications from individuals who have never applied for DACA previously but who are eligible to apply.

After 90 days, Joshua will be able to file for a new DACA application as per order of the U.S. District Court by proving that he meets all the above eligibility requirements. While this is a positive development, DACA is only a temporary program and its future is very uncertain. It would be best if there will be a permanent path to citizenship for the Dreamers. At the moment, there are several bills before the U.S. Congress addressing this issue. The most appropriate bill that must be passed into law is the Dream Act (HR 3440 and S.1615). If passed into law, it will provide a path to naturalization to Dreamers after 5 years in conditional permanent resident status.

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is a San Francisco-based immigration lawyer and immigrant’s rights advocate. She may be reached at law@tancinco.com, facebook.com/tancincolaw, or 1 888 930 0808)

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Updates

9 Frequently Asked Questions on DACA Renewals

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Last week a Federal District Court Judge in San Francisco issued a nationwide injunction that temporarily blocks the phase-out of a program protecting the Dreamers. The preliminary injunction issued on January 9, 2018 by U.S. District Judge William Alsup remains in effect during litigation in five consolidated lawsuits that challenge the government’s decision to wind down the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The following are frequently asked questions about this injunction:

1.What is the impact of this injunction on the DACA program?

The preliminary injunction order means that the DACA program will be maintained temporarily during the litigation on the same terms and conditions as were in effect before the rescission on September 5, 2017. Also, certain DACA beneficiaries will be able renew their work permits and protections with a few exceptions.

2. Who can renew their DACA protection and work permits?

Dreamers who currently have DACA and are eligible to renew may request renewal by filing Form I-821D, Form I-765, and Form I765 Worksheet, with the appropriate fee or approved fee exemption request, at the USCIS designated filing location, and in accordance with the form instructions.

3. Can Dreamers with expired DACA beginning September 5, 2016 until Sept 5, 2017 apply for renewal?

When the DACA was terminated on September 5, 2017, the DACA protection that were then expiring were only given until October 5, 2017 to renew. Significant number of these DACA recipients failed to renew. With this injunction order, USCIS issued a guidance clearly stating that they may now renew their DACA work permits and protection.

4. Can Dreamers whose DACA expired before September 5, 2016 still apply for renewal?

No. Those whose DACA protection and work permit expired BEFORE September 5, 2016 may not renew. However, they will be allowed to re-file a new DACA application under the USCIS guidance.

5. What about Dreamers whose DACA protection and work permit was terminated by the USCIS, can they now file for renewal?

No. But like in #4 question, they will be allowed to re-file a new DACA application. USCIS asks applications to list down the date their prior DACA was terminated.

6. How soon can the Dreamers apply for the DACA renewal ?

Dreamers who are eligible for renewal must file as soon as possible given the fact that the injunction is temporary in nature. Under the instructions for Form I-821D and the DACA FAQs on USCIS’s website, applicants were instructed to file for renewal 150 to 120 days in advance of the expiration of their current DACA grant. It is not yet clear from USCIS if they will reject those filed more than 150 days given that the injunction order is only temporary in nature and ancillary to the litigation is pending. Once there is clarification, we will inform readers of future developments.

7. What about DACA beneficiaries who wants to apply for the first time, will they be permitted to file their application now?

The USCIS guidance clearly indicates that those who have not filed DACA applications in the past may not file for new applications now. This means that the injunction order extends only to those who had prior grant of DACA and whose DACA work permit and protection expired or were terminated.

8. Will DACA beneficiaries be able to apply for advance parole?

The injunction order does not cover advance parole and USCIS is not ordered to adjudicate any advance parole. Hence, USCIS will not accept applications for advance parole from DACA beneficiaries.

9. Given that the court injunction is only temporary in nature, is there a possibility that the DACA program will become law anytime soon?

President Trump met with lawmakers last week to discuss about the future of DACA and other immigration issues. There seemed to be no agreement made on the future of the DACA program. There is currently a political pressure to include DACA as a legislation into the spending bill which hopefully will happen before January 18, 2018.

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is a San Francisco based immigration lawyer and immigrant’s right advocate. She may be reached at law@tancinco.com, facebook.com/tancincolaw,  or 1 888 930 0808)

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Updates

Proposed Bills that Make Immigrant Families Vulnerable

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The year 2017 has been challenging for most immigrants. Many Filipino immigrants have been concerned with changes in federal policies and how it is affecting families and employment. The following developments have given reason for apprehensions about the future of U.S. immigration:

Attacking Family Immigration

A bill known as the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) ACT seeks to cut current legal immigration by at least 50%. The serious impact of this bill is in the big reduction of family member categories who can be petitioned, including the limitation of qualified family members only to minor children and spouse of the U.S. citizens. Under the RAISE proposal, parents, adult married or unmarried children and siblings of U.S. citizens petitions are no longer relatives who can be petitioned. In addition, the age of minor children will be reduced to those who are under the age of 18 (from the current 21). For millions of Filipinos who are beneficiaries of family petitions, this bill will be a disappointment for families who have been waiting decades for reunification with their family members. This is definitely a bill that will not bode well for family unification.

Merit-Based System

Without taking into account family unity and the needs of businesses, the RAISE Act proposes to eliminate the current employment system of immigration. It prioritizes skills over family unity by designating a point system for future immigration applicants.

Heightened Enforcement

In his first month in office, Trump released his Executive Order on Interior Enforcement where he ordered changes that now prioritizes enforcement. He ordered for a budget that hires more than 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents that may result in mass deportations. An enforcement only bill H.R. 2431 was introduced by a certain Rep. Labrado (R-ID) that dramatically expands immigration enforcement and criminalizes undocumented immigrants.

Fixing DACA

Young unauthorized immigrants are looking forward to legislation that will provide solution to their predicament given the termination of the DACA program in September of 2017. The DREAM Act was the bill that directly addressed this issue and provided for a permanent solution by granting conditional permanent status to DACA beneficiaries and allows them to become U.S. citizens in 5 years. Other bills like the SUCCEED Act also provided a permanent status but comes with restrictions. Under those bills, Dreamers will be prohibited from sponsoring their children and spouses in order to prevent chain migration. There were also provisions that compel Dreamers to sign away their rights to any immigration benefit or relief like immediate deportation without due process if they commit minor crimes such as driving without license or shoplifting.

All the above bills are contained in the White House Principles on immigration and obviously will have negative impact on many immigrants. The most disheartening proposals are the attacks on family….. the foundation of this nation and the policy behind our immigration law. Our community must continue to advocate for what is right and bring the message to our legislators in their home district this holiday season to support immigration bills that are humane and value family unity instead of forcing them apart.

I waited until December 22 to write about an immigration update hoping that I would bring the good news about a positive development on the DREAM Act. Those who are beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals will have to wait until January 2018 to find out whether or not Congress will pass the DREAM Act which is the permanent fix to the DACA program for young undocumented immigrants. This holiday season will still be spent with uncertainty hanging over the future of DACA recipients. While this is a disappointment to many, I am still positive that with hopeful bipartisan support in Congress, there will be an opportunity for passage of the DREAM Act early 2018.

This Christmas, my wish is for more (not less) family unification; and, for the leaders of this country to realize the value of families and its contribution to the strength of our nation.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

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Updates

End of DACA puts at risk up to 6,000 young Filipino recipients

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There are approximately 22,000 young Filipino immigrants who are eligible to apply for benefits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Only 27 percent of those eligible applied, or approximately 6,000. The rest of these young Filipino immigrants continue to wait for permanent solution to their status. With the announcement that President Donald Trump is ending the DACA program will those who took advantage of the DACA program be arrested and eventually be deported?

Unfortunately, those who are just in the process of filing their DACA applications for the first time, will no longer be able to do so. This will affect those who just became eligible to apply for DACA and those who took time or postponed the filing of their DACA applications despite the fact that they were eligible. After September 5, 2017, USCIS will no longer accept new DACA applications.

Future of DACA recipients

There is a short window afforded to existing DACA recipients to renew their expiring DACA employment authorization documents (EAD) if these EADs are expiring between September 5, 2017 and March 5, 2018. The request for renewal and application for employment authorization document must be received by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services no later than October 5, 2017. This is an important deadline because USCIS will reject all requests to renew ACA and associated applications for EADs filed after October 5, 2017.

Once the application for renewal is adjudicated, USCIS is expected to renew it for another two year period or until 2019. Unfortunately, for those whose DACA benefits are expiring after March 5, 2018, once their employment authorization document expires, USCIS will no longer be able to accept and adjudicate their applications for renewal. This means that beginning March 6, 2018, there will be DACA recipients who will be deprived of their protected status and will be reverted to their unlawful status.

Will DACA recipients be deported?

It was clearly mentioned during the announcement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the DACA recipients are not considered priority for enforcement. While this may sound favorable, there is no guarantee that ICE will not issue Notices to Appear for removal hearings. The USCIS confirmed that it will not share information obtained through DACA applications with the ICE agents. However, it is important to note that unless ICE is requesting that information based on certain factors like national security, public safety and fraud, the information may still be shared for enforcement. It will still be best for this DACA recipients to be vigilant about their situation and to be familiar with their rights especially their rights to a hearing and their right to counsel.

Congressional action

Terminating the DACA program within 6 months will afford the U.S. Congress time to enact a law benefitting the DACA recipients. At present there are two bills pending, the Dream Act (S.1615) before the Senate and the American Hope Act (H.R.3591) before the House of Representatives.

If these bills are passed into law, it will provide permanent solutions to protect DACA recipients and give them a pathway to lawful status. These young immigrants will have to take steps to ensure that they are safe from removal.

We also encourage compassionate members of our community, who believe that DACA recipients deserve a chance to build their lives in the country they call home, to work together towards the passage of the Dream Act by contacting their representatives in Congress.

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is a San Francisco based immigration lawyer and immigrant’s right advocate. She may be reached at law@tancinco.com, facebook.com/tancincolaw, or 1 888 930 0808)

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Updates

DACA Dreamers win support from US solons, mayors

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SAN FRANCISCO — More than 750,000 DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) applicants have acquired approved employment authorization documents and are temporarily protected from removal.

But as of June 30, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reports that 7,941 approved DACA applications are from Filipino nationals who are now at risk of being deported if the Trump administration takes immediate action to revoke the DACA program.

“Jose” entered the United States when he was five years old. He does not remember the details of his family’s entry to the United States. He was not even aware that he was unlawfully in the U.S. until he applied for his driver’s license when he was 16 years old. He is now 25 years old and availed of the DACA program. When he applied for a job as a computer engineer in Silicon Valley, he was hired right away and has now been working for three years.

Realizing that President-elect Trump may take action on DACA after inauguration, he asked me about the risk of losing his employment authorization document and his state identification card. He was very emotional as he expressed his fear: “I do not want to be back to a situation where I have no legal document at all. Please tell me that they are not taking away my employment permit and IDs.”

At the present time, there is no definite response to Jose’s question. Although President-elect Trump seems to have softened his stance on young undocumented immigrants in one of his public interviews, there are no indications that he will continue the DACA program of his predecessor.

On the other hand, the DACA population’s supporters are increasing nationwide. Before the end of the Congressional sessions this month, a bipartisan bill called “Bar Removal of Immigrants who Dream and Grow the Economy” or BRIDGE Act was introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois).

This bill would allow eligible individuals the chance to apply for “provisional protected present,” which is a temporary protection from deportation similar to that provided by DACA. As part of the temporary protection, employment authorization will be issued to the applicants. The policy behind BRIDGE Act is to protect the investment that American communities have made in educating these young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States at a young age and who are currently eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Aside from proposed bipartisan BRIDGE Act, 14 mayors joined Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel last week in a letter to President-elect Trump seeking support for the DACA program. Included as signatories to the letter are mayors of cities who believe that DACA helps foster economic growth and enhances public safety and national security.

According to the Emanuel letter, “ Eighty seven percent of DACA recipients are employed with American businesses. Six percent of DACA recipients started their own businesses, higher than the American public (3.1 percent). All of these things translate into higher wages and better economic outcomes.”

Jose is one of the 87 percent of DACA recipients working for a U.S. enterprise and contributing to the US economy. Unfortunately, his fear of reverting back to his former status as an individual in unlawful presence without a valid identification is real; and, until there is certainty on the future of the DACA program, this population remains in limbo.

With a lot of support for the DACA population, the hope is that the incoming Trump administration would reconsider its anti-immigrant rhetoric during his run to the election and that the US Congress would immediately pass the BRIDGE Act.

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is a partner at Tancinco Law Offices, a San Francisco based law firm and may be reached at law@tancinco.com, facebook.com/tancincolaw, tancinco.weareph.com/old or 1 888 930 0808.)

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Global Pinoy

Should ‘TNTs’ start planning for voluntary departure from US?

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More than 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States, including approximately 300,000 from the Philippines, are now in panic mode and uncertain about their future under a Trump administration. Deporting immigrants who are in unlawful status is one of Trump’s campaign promises.

The presidential election result was a bitter pill to swallow for most immigrants. Most of the Filipino American immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area are not happy with the result of the election. Immigration attorneys have received many phone calls and emails from concerned immigrants, both legal as well as those who are undocumented, asking about the immediate threat of removal from the US come January 20, 2017.

Lawful permanent residents or those with status are seriously concerned about pending petitions for their family members. Will the petitioning process take longer with the coming Trump administration? Those who are in possession of professional working visas are worried about whether the H1B program will be eliminated. Filipino healthcare workers such as registered nurses, physical therapists and caregivers with pending immigrant petitions from US employers have no clue on whether their visas are still going to be issued if immigration policy changes.

The most vulnerable immigrants who are most likely going to be affected are the DREAMERS (children who were supposed to benefit from the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors or the DREAM Act) and the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients. These are the young immigrants who came to the United States when they were below 15 years old and who are still present in the US as young adults without legal status.

For the last eight years, President Obama has supported a DREAM Act that allows these young immigrants to have lawful status, but the bill failed to pass in Congress. Using his executive power, he released a program called the DACA where thousands of young immigrants were given temporary employment authorization cards to allow them to live without fear of deportation and enabling them to work temporarily. Thousands of young Filipinos availed of this program. Their names and information are in the current system of the Department of Homeland Security. They fear not just losing their DACA status, but also about their parents who may be subject to removal.

After listening to the interview of President-Elect Donald Trump on “60 Minutes,” it appears that he also has priorities for dealing with immigration. He explicitly mentioned the immediate deportation of three million undocumented immigrants. Also, he confirmed that border security would be tightened and then removal of undocumented with criminal records would be next. Prioritizing border security is paramount on his agenda as may be assumed from his campaign plan of building a wall in the US-Mexico border.

If Trump follows through with his public statements, those who are in unlawful presence or TNTs including the DACA recipients are not (yet) in danger of immediate deportation. While there is no immediate threat at the moment, they have to be mindful of their activities, be familiar about their rights and keep in their immediate possession whatever legal documents relating to their immigration history in this country.

Most importantly, this vulnerable population must be able to distinguish between real and fake news on immigration. At the present time, it is easy to fall victim to false information on social media because bigotry and hatred are on the rise against minorities and immigrants. Be very vigilant.

(Atty. Lourdes Santos Tancinco is a San Francisco based immigration attorney and immigrant advocate. She may be reached at law@tancinco.com, 1 888 930 0808 or visit her at facebook.com/tancincolaw or tancinco.weareph.com/old)

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Global Pinoy

US high court’s one-line ruling only a temporary defeat for DACA+

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“The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court,” this is the one-line ruling of the highest court of the land in the much awaited decision on Obama’s Executive Action on DACA extension and DAPA program. After more than two years of waiting for the injunction to be lifted on the programs and looking forward to a decision on the merits, immigrant rights supporters were disappointed when the Supreme Court laid out its ruling in a deadlock vote of 4-4. But it’s only a temporary defeat; there are still legal ways to move forward with the executive action.

Jose Antonio Vargas, a Filipino national, is the most outspoken advocate of the DREAM Act and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). In 2012 when President Obama announced the DACA program for the first time, he was not included on the list of those qualified to apply even if he was only 12 years old at the time of his arrival in the US. The first DACA program in 2012 included a requirement that the applicant must be below 31 years old at the time of the application for deferred action under DACA. Jose just turned 31 years old in 2012 and lost the opportunity to apply for DACA.

His hope of getting temporary relief under DACA was revived when in 2014, President Obama announced the DACA+ and the DAPA executive actions. For the DACA+ program, the age ceiling of 31 years old was eliminated, maintaining only the minimum age requirement of 15 and below at the time of entry into the United States. Jose would have qualified, but the anti immigrants would not allow the DACA+ and the DAPA program to push through. Conservative states filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration, and a 5th District Court Judge issued an injunction against its implementation.

The litigation reached the Supreme Court, and there was a hearing on the merits. Unfortunately, on June 23, 2016, the Supreme Court did not issue a decision, but rather announced a per curiam ruling stating that the court was divided and that the judgment of the lower district court is affirmed.

The arguments in favor of the DACA+/DAPA Executive Actions seemed to make more legal sense during the hearing. It obviously did not turn out that way. The split in the evenly divided Supreme Court shows the sharp ideological divide between the factions in it. The feeling is that it is a politicized court with an ultra-conservative right and a liberal left-wing faction.

Had Justice Scalia not passed away recently, the conservatives would have had a clear victory. On the other hand, had Congress done its job and voted on President Obama’s replacement for Justice Scalia’s seat in the Supreme Court, it would not be inconceivable that the DACA+/DAPA Executive Actions would have been upheld.

To put this in perspective, this is only a temporary defeat for the immigrants. There are still legal ways to move forward with Executive Action as no decision on the merits was issued. But to initiate a new action would take time, which the current president no longer has. Come November 7, a new president will be elected. Whoever is elected as the next president gets to nominate the next Justice for the Supreme Court vacancy. That single appointment can tip the balance of the Supreme Court’s ideological divide to the left (or to the right) for years and years to come; hence, the importance of voting for the right president in the coming November election.

(Atty. Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq. is an immigration attorney with the Tancinco Law Offices, a San Francisco CA based law firm. She may be reached at 1 888 930 0808, law@tancinco.com , facebook.com/tancincolaw, or through her website tancinco.weareph.com/old)

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Global Pinoy

Should undocumented be allowed to enlist in the U.S. Army?

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An amendment to the annual spending bill that could have prohibited young unauthorized immigrants from joining the military was defeated in the House on June 16, 2016. The House, which is led by majority Republicans, sent a strong message that not all Republicans are in support of anti-immigrant policies.

In 2008, a recruitment program called the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest or MAVNI was established, which enabled non-U.S. citizens to join the U.S. Military. The program has been reauthorized until September 2016.

Under the MAVNI program, non-immigrants in certain categories except visitor visa holders may apply for enlistment with the U.S. Army. The nonimmigrants who are allowed to enlist under MAVNI are those in E, F, H, I, J, K, L, M, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U or V visa categories. It requires the applicant to be legally residing in the United States for a minimum of two years prior to joining the Army without a single absence from the country lasting longer than 90 days. In addition, the applicant must have a high school diploma and a qualifying score on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AQFT).

DACA recipients qualified to enlist
Generally, those who are with legal status, even if with nonimmigrant status, are the only individuals allowed to enlist in the U.S. Army. In 2014, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients were allowed to enlist under the MAVNI program. They must have employment authorization document when they apply for enlistment.

Right now the U.S. Army through the MAVNI program allows DACA recipients only with “in demand” skills to apply. Specifically, those who may enlist are individuals who are licensed health care professionals and those who can speak one or more critical language on the MAVNI list. For Filipino DACA recipients, they qualify if they speak Tagalog, Cebuano, and Moro (Tausug Maranao and Maguindanao).

Once DACA recipients enlist, expedited U.S. citizenship processing is afforded to them after they graduate from 10 weeks of Basic Combat Training. Once they are U.S. citizens, they may enjoy additional benefits for their family including the ability to petition their parents who have no legal status. There are only limited numbers of recruits that are allowed under the MAVNI program for each fiscal year and those interested may contact their local Army recruiter.

Since DACA recipients incurred unlawful status prior to being granted deferred action and being issued employment authorization document, their ability to enlist in the military maybe perceived by some as a “backdoor amnesty.”

Perhaps, not all unauthorized immigrants should be given a chance to enlist. But DACA recipients came to the U.S. at a very young age and did not make the decision to remain as unauthorized immigrants. Now, they are able to make their own decision to risk their lives, to serve and defend the country they learned to love and have embraced as their own, they should be supported.

The legislators made the right decision to defeat the bill that would have prevented them from expressing their patriotism.

(Atty. Lourdes Santos Tancinco is a San Francisco based immigration attorney and may be reached at law@tancinco.com, tancinco.weareph.com/old, facebook/tancincolaw, or 1-888-930-0808.

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Global Pinoy

Predicament of American daughter: Family separation

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Sonia was born and raised in San Jose, California. From the outside, Sonia seemed like your typical happy-go-lucky senior in high school getting ready to go college, but at home, Sonia lives a different reality.

Her parents, Edgar and Rowena, are from the Philippines. They came to the United States when Rowena was pregnant with Sonia and decided to overstay their tourist visa.

Refused to leave

When Sonia was very young, her parents were arrested by the Immigration Service and were to be deported. Edgar and Rowena, however, refused to leave the US and decided to stay. For years, they hid their status and tirelessly worked several under-the-table jobs so Sonia could study in the best schools and participate in after-school activities.

Illegal status

It was only recently that Sonia found out about her parents’ illegal status in the United States when she wanted to apply for private student loans for college. Since finding out the truth about her parents’ illegal status, Sonia has been worried that her parents can be taken anytime from her and she’s scared of what will happen when she leaves for college. She relies on her parents for everything, emotional and financial needs. In two weeks, Sonia will be turning 18 years old and instead of the usual birthday debut celebration, she told her parents not to prepare anything special.

Instead, she wanted to take steps to help her parents. Is there anything that Sonia can legally do for her parents?

Deferred action

More than a year ago, US President Barack Obama released two immigration executive actions that will provide immigration relief to undocumented parents of US citizens (called DAPA or Deferred Action for Parents of Americans); and, an expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) for undocumented young immigrants.

The DAPA and DACA will affect more than 4 million undocumented immigrants.

Instead of the implementation of these reliefs, however, a lawsuit was filed by 26 states. Currently, the implementation of Dapa, the program which was supposed to allow undocumented parents with US citizen children to obtain an employment authorization document and be deferred from removal, is still suspended until the US Supreme Court decides on this case.

It is expected a decision will be reached by June 2016. Until then, parents with US citizen children will have to avail of alternative options.

US citizen children may only petition their parents after they turn 21 years old. Until Sonia reaches this age, there is really nothing much she can do affirmatively to help her parents with their immigration status. Even assuming that she turns 21 years old, there is a bigger hurdle that she has to overcome before she can file a petition for her parents.

The deportation order may be enforced anytime by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) against her parents if they are found to be still present in the United States. Fortunately, there is “prosecutorial discretion” request that may be filed with the DHS to prevent this from happening.

Sonia’s case is very sympathetic and her desperation to help her parents is understandable considering that her parents are her only means of support. She represents many young immigrants who are in the same situation and who were afforded the opportunity to be integrated into the American system just to be threatened with family separation with no relief available.

Hopefully, the DAPA litigation will result in a favorable judgment for the Obama administration and her parents will be given temporary relief.