AP
By Amy Taxin
December 15, 2014
A top federal immigration official on Monday urged
qualified immigrants to apply for President Barack Obama's reprieve from
deportation and sought to dispel fears that a future administration
might unravel the program.
At a conference for immigrant advocates in Los
Angeles, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director Leon
Rodriguez said that in the past presidents have respected the
immigration measures taken by their predecessors.
"For all those people who are thinking about
participating in a deferred action program: Stop worrying. Participate
with confidence," Rodriguez said in Spanish. "Remember that in every
moment that an American president has created a new
immigration program, that program has been respected by other
presidents."
The remarks come as Rodriguez's agency gears up to
oversee Obama's initiative to spare from deportation nearly 5 million
immigrants living in the country illegally. At least 20 states led by
Texas have filed a lawsuit to try to block the
measure.
Immigrants across the country are attending
community forums and meeting with lawyers to see if they might qualify.
The measure applies to those who have been in the country illegally for
more than five years and have children who are American
citizens or lawful permanent residents, and some immigrants who entered the country illegally as children and who were not previously covered by a 2012 reprieve.
In a brief interview with reporters, Rodriguez said
immigration officers don't share applicants' information with
enforcement authorities unless an applicant has a disqualifying criminal
history or is a national security threat. He said
the program will be fully funded by application fees.
The agency plans to hire as many as 1,000
immigration officers to process applications in office space leased in
northern Virginia and has already received 5,000 applications for the
government jobs, he said.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
No comments:
Post a Comment