WASHINGTON — Federal officials have 60 days to prepare for an onslaught of young illegal immigrants eager to apply for “deferred” deportation and work permits under the recently announced Obama administration directive that could affect up to 800,000 people living in the U.S.
Federal discretion on deportation has been allowed before with certain groups of immigrants, such as those too sick to travel, or those with bad home-country conditions.
But this new wave of potentially eligible people could number in the tens of thousands in Colorado alone and will be bigger than immigration offices have seen before.
“I think there is a lot of hope and skepticism,” said Carmen Medrano, a community organizer for Together Colorado, an organization that hosted an informational forum last week about Obama’s directive. More than 100 people showed up. “There are just so many questions we don’t know the answers to.”
To qualify for deferred action and eventually a work permit under the new policy, applicants must have lived in the U.S. for five years and be between the ages of 16 and 30. They must be enrolled in an American high school or have graduated or received a graduate equivalency diploma. They also must not have a criminal record.
Officials don’t anticipate turning anyone away who meets the five criteria, though cases are decided on an individual basis. Federal officials also say that families would also be protected from scrutiny.
“We have internally set it up so that the parents are not referred for immigration enforcement if the young person comes in for deferred action,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told CNN. “However, the parents are not qualified for deferred action. This is for the young people who meet the criteria that we’ve set forth.”
There are a lot of unknowns that officials say they are trying to work out before people can start the process in mid-August. Unknowns include figuring out whether potential applicants have to wait in line and apply in person or whether they can submit proof online.
Immigration lawyers question what constitutes a criminal record, driving without a license? A car accident? And how do immigrants prove continuous five-year residency, through rental leases or high school report cards?
“We just keep saying at this time we really don’t know,” Medrano said.
State officials, too, are preparing for a shift because those working under temporary work permits can receive Colorado unemployment insurance if they lose their job through no fault of their own.
Colorado’s current law allows payments to go to people who were legally working.
“We believe their work permits will have effective start dates and expiration dates so we would have to determine with each claimant who holds a work permit at what point were they considered ‘lawfully present,’ ” said Colorado Department of Labor and Employment spokesman Bill Thoennes.
At this time, state Labor officials don’t anticipating needing more staff to deal with this segment of the population.
Ana, a 19-year-old graduate from Bishop Machebeuf High School in Denver, was detained at the Canadian border last year with her godmother and her twin sister for five days in an Allegany County, New York jail after they tried to move to Canada for an education.
She received scholarship offers from some colleges, but once it was discovered she was undocumented she was shifted to a “foreign student” status and the education became too costly.
Ana is volunteering at her church and babysitting this summer, but is excited to start the paperwork so she can go to work and eventually go to college.
She wants to study quantum mechanics — electrons, specifically.
“I consider myself an American. This is my country. I’ve lived here since I was 3,” Ana said. “We were detained before and they let us go without any status at all. It wasn’t a fun time … I am excited because we won’t have to be detained again.”
Hans Meyer, a Denver immigration lawyer, said his clients are hesitant to put a lot of faith in the federal directive because they have been promised prosecutorial discretion before and it wasn’t followed.
The group of people who will be eligible for deferred action are young, educated, tech savvy English-speakers, he said.
“They are willing to fight to try and make this happen and get what they believe they deserve as Americans in every aspect except on paper,” Meyer said. “We want to make sure the program actually functions.”
Allison Sherry: 202-662-8907 or asherry@denverpost.com/Follow on Twitter @allisonsherry
