Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Young immigrants to apply for Dream Act protection Wednesday

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/young-immigrants-to-apply-for-dream-act-protection-wednesday/2012/08/14/676471de-e63d-11e1-8741-940e3f6dbf48_story.html

The Obama administration will kick off one of the most sweeping changes in immigration policy in decades Wednesday, allowing an estimated 1.7 million young undocumented immigrants to apply for the temporary right to live and work openly in the United States without fear of deportation.

Immigrants have waited for final details of the plan in the two months since President Obama pledged to brush aside years of congressional stalemate over the Dream Act and grant de facto residency to qualified immigrants who were brought to the country as children.

The program is open to immigrants ages 15 to 31 who came to the country before they were 16 and have lived here continuously for at least the past five years. Among other restrictions, they must be free of serious criminal convictions, be enrolled in or completed high school or have served in the U.S. military. On Tuesday, officials confirmed those enrolled in GED programs and certain training programs will also qualify, broadening its potential reach.

The protected status has to be renewed every two years. And the program’s name, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, may lack the aspirational heft of the “Dream Act.” But immigration advocates are treating Wednesday’s launch as a great victory.

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