Over 72,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children have applied for deportation relief, an immigration policy enacted by the Obama administration which came into effect last month.
Under the new policy, undocumented immigrants who arrived here as children can be granted a deferred deportation order and issued a work authorization number.
According to CBS, the first requests were granted last week.
"Following a thorough, individualized case review, USCIS has now begun notifying individuals of the determination on their deferral requests," DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard said in a statement Tuesday.
Homeland Security has estimated that as many as 1.4 million immigrants could apply to the program during its first year. An estimated 80,000 undocumented immigrants within New York state are expected to benefit from the law, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank based in Washington, D.C.
In order to qualify for the deferred action program, immigrants must have arrived here before their 16th birthday and be under the age of 31; have lived continually in the US for a minimum of five years; have a High School diploma or G.E.D. equivalent; not have any previous criminal convictions.
Applicants must submit their cases to one of three USCIS lockboxes along with a filing fee of $465. DHS then conducts background checks, including fingerprinting, before applications can be approved.
Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has labeled the police as "backdoor amnesty."
"It's astounding that the president's administration can move so quickly to grant work authorization to illegal immigrants yet his jobs council hasn't met in over eight months to find solutions to put unemployed Americans back to work," Smith said Tuesday.
"Such a quick turnaround for these amnesty applications raises serious concerns about fraud and a lack of thorough background checks. President Obama and his administration continue to put illegal immigrants ahead of the interests of the American people."
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has not said whether or not he would veto the act if elected in November.
3 Comments
-
-
-
Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.amkilshane | Sep 13, 2012, 10:05 PM EDT
The US immigration policy is broken. There has been double standards for years which has deprived people worldwide from legitimate immigration to the US. Now they are sending a message loud and clear to Mexicans , get here any way you can and start having children . Then your children will be automatic US citizens, we will even grant amnesty to the children you bring with you.
DanOLoingsigh | Sep 13, 2012, 03:56 PM EDT
Headline has four zeros, article has three?? Who subs this stuff??
Seanmor | Sep 13, 2012, 10:02 AM EDT
This is the wrong time to be giving work permits to 1½ million ILLEGAL aliens who along with their parents have for long been violating the laws of this nation by unlawfully residing here. Instead of enabling these law-breakers to join the work force, the U.S. authosities should try to find suitable employment for the 23 million unemployed U.S. citizens. Among the jobless Americans are hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans (200,000 of them homeless), who should be given first prefence to available employment. When it comes to hiring immigrants, those who LEGALLY entered the country but overstayed their visas are far more deverving of working previlages than anyone who came here unlawfully under any circumstances.