By Dan González
November 16, 2012
The re-election of President Barack Obama has emboldened more young undocumented immigrants to apply for a program that could allow them to stay and work temporarily in the United States without the threat of deportation.
Many illegal immigrants hesitated to apply out of fear that if Republican challenger Mitt Romney won the presidential election, he would kill the Obama program, leaving those who had applied potentially vulnerable to deportation.
Obama launched the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in June as part of a campaign effort to win support from Latino voters. His re-election ensures the program will continue for at least four more years.
Many undocumented immigrants, thrilled by the original announcement, now see even more reason to apply.
Obama’s victory with the overwhelming support of Latino voters has pushed many Republicans to once again line up behind comprehensive immigration reforms that include a way for millions of illegal immigrants to legalize their status and eventually become U.S. citizens.
Applying for deferred action could offer not only a chance to stay and work but also a leg up on gaining citizenship under the growing likelihood that Congress will finally pass the Dream Act or some other broader legalization program.
“There were still a lot of unknowns before November 6,” said Lorella Praeli, director of advocacy and policy for United We Dream, a network of young immigrants who have been pushing for the Dream Act, a bill aimed at allowing young undocumented immigrants to gain citizenship by attending college or serving in the military. “But now that people know that President Obama has been re-elected, we are expecting to see a surge in requests.”
A boost in support for Obama
Obama announced the deferred-action program on June 15 as part of an election-year bid to shore up support from Latino voters disappointed by his failure to get comprehensive immigration reform passed during his first term and upset by the record number of immigrants deported under his administration.
The deferred-action program allows young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors to apply for a two-year deferment from deportation and a permit to work legally in the U.S. during that time. The deferred action can be renewed for two more years.
The government began accepting applications on Aug. 15, but the program got off to a slow start.
As many as 1.7 million undocumented immigrants under 31 are eligible for the program, including 80,000 in Arizona. As of Thursday, 308,935 undocumented immigrants, or about 18 percent of the total eligible, had applied for the program, including 11,074 from Arizona, according to statistics released Friday by the Department of Homeland Security to The Arizona Republic.
Of those who have applied, 298,834 cases have been accepted for review and 10,101 have been rejected, according to Homeland Security.
So far, deferred action has been granted to 53,273 undocumented immigrants, and an additional 124,572 applications are in the final stages of review, according to the Homeland Security.
The program is widely credited with helping Obama win back support from Latino voters by demonstrating his willingness to support illegal immigrants despite criticism from Republicans.
Obama received 71 percent of the Latino vote, according to exit polls, exceeding the 67 percent he received in 2008. A poll by Latino Decisions/America’s Voice put Obama’s support from Latinos even higher, at 75 percent.
Praeli, of United We Dream, said the tough stance on illegal immigration Romney took during the campaign made many young undocumented immigrants hesitant about applying for the program until after the election.
Some were concerned that the personal information they are required to provide to the government, including fingerprints, as part of their application could be turned over to federal immigration-enforcement officials if Romney were elected, possibly leading to their deportation, she said.
“There was a sense of fear that we would not know what would happen if there was a Romney presidency,” Praeli said.
That fear was most likely unfounded. Romney never said he would deport undocumented immigrants who received deferred action through the program. If he had tried, he likely would have faced a political backlash and already backlogged Immigration Courts would have been flooded with thousands of new cases.
“Everybody had the false belief that they would be put in deportation proceedings and immediately removed from the United States,” agreed Jose Luis Peñalosa, a Phoenix immigration lawyer. “The reality of that coming into fruition was extremely low.”
Still, Romney’s tough rhetoric during the campaign made many illegal immigrants wary about applying.
“He wanted us to deport ourselves,” said Sugey Rodriguez, 23, a Glendale resident who was brought to the U.S. illegally from Mexico by her parents in 2002.
During the campaign, Romney said he opposed the Dream Act and opposed granting “amnesty” to illegal immigrants. He also said during one of the primary debates that illegal immigrants should “self-deport” and that tough Arizona-style immigration laws should be a model for the country.
Romney said that he would not take deferred action away from those who had been previously approved but that he would not continue the program, either.
A financial challenge
The main challenge remaining for many illegal immigrants is the $465 application fee, Peñalosa said. Some undocumented immigrants are having a hard time coming up with the money because, legally, they can’t work.
“I personally believe the $465 is reasonable, but it becomes an impediment for the young kids who are like 15 to 18 and don’t work and don’t have an income,” he said. “They haven’t worked under the table, and their parents are barely surviving, and a lot of them come from single-family homes, so to get that money, it takes time.”
On top of that, some undocumented immigrants are paying up to $2,500 for a lawyer to help them prepare their applications, Peñalosa said.
One undocumented immigrant, Juan Juarez, 19, of Phoenix, said he held a car wash to raise part of the fee.
He made $80.
“It wasn’t much, but it still helped out,” said Juarez, who was 10 when his mother brought him to the U.S. from Zacatecas, Mexico. They came on visitor visas and then stayed, he said.
Juarez, a student at Grand Canyon University who hopes for a career in broadcast news, said he has resorted to asking for donations from family members and friends to raise the rest of the money.
Rise in applications
Meanwhile, the number of people applying for deferred action is picking up.
Peñalosa said the number of calls to his office from undocumented immigrants increased after the election.
“The following day until now, I have seen an uptick in my business,” he said.
He also noticed an increase in the number of people who attended a free deferred-action workshop last Saturday in Phoenix.
“We had a good turnout, about 100 kids,” Peñalosa said.
Peñalosa attributed the increase in applications to Obama’s victory and the growing support for immigration reform by both Democrats and Republicans.
Those accepted for deferred action would have a leg up on any legalization program passed by Congress, including the Dream Act, he said.
“That person is going to have a pre-existing file, and the process should be a lot smoother,” he said. “It’s an advantage to somebody to have applied and be in the system.”
In the wake of the election, several top Republicans, among them Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., began calling for immigration reforms that include a path to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants after seeing the overwhelming support Obama received from Latino voters.
On Wednesday, Obama said, “We need to seize the moment. And my expectation is, is that we get a bill introduced and we begin the process in Congress very soon after my inauguration.”
Rodriguez, the undocumented immigrant from Mexico who aspires to be a pediatrician’s assistant, said that after the election, she decided to apply for deferred action. She only needed a few more documents to complete her application.
She was planning to mail the application Friday.
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