Public Employee Press

Applications now available for immigrants aged 15-30

President Barack Obama recently announced a deferred action process to let many immigrants who entered the United States as children live and work in the United States without fear of deportation for at least two years.

Applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are now being accepted, and New York City is committed to assisting undocumented young people who wish to apply for deferred action and work authorization obtain the documents they will need to prove their eligibility, said Monica Tavares of the city's Office of Immigrant Affairs.

The estimated 50,000 to 60,000 New York City residents who may be eligible to apply for the new program can get the form online from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service at www.uscis.gov-/childhood arrivals or ask questions at 1-800-375-5283.

The school and health records that USCIS has indicated it will accept are likely to be city documents, and city agencies have outlined processes for retrieving the documents. More information on retrieving documents and getting application assistance is available at www.nyc.gov and 311 online (www.nyc.gov/311). Potential applicants should check on the fees involved, which are likely to be significant.

Being granted deferred action means the Dept. of Homeland Security considers the person a low priority for deportation, but deferred action is not amnesty or immunity from enforcement and it does not provide lawful immigration status or a path to a green card or citizenship.

"It makes no sense to expel talented young people who for all intents and purposes are Americans," said Obama.

Eligibility criteria include being between 15 and 30, coming here before 16 and living here for the five years before June 15, 2012, being a high school grad or military veteran not convicted of a felony or significant misdemeanor and not posing a threat to national security.