ANNOUNCEMENT FROM OBAMA – ENFORCEMENT, DACA, LEGAL IMMIGRATION SYSTEM CHANGES

We just completed our conference call with U.S. White House Senior Administration Officials.  President Obama will be announcing his plan to the public at 8 PM tonight.  

There will be 3 parts to his announcement of changes to the immigration system that will become effective this spring:
1. Enforcement
2. DACA
3. Changes to the legal immigration system

Under the enforcement category, a new memo will name three enforcement priorities which will be operational immediately:
1. Suspected terrorists, convicted felons, convicted gang members and people apprehended at the border;
2. People convicted of serious or multiple misdemeanors, and very recent entrants (after 1/1/14); and
3. Those who, after 1/1/114 failed to leave under a removal or returned after removal.

Under the DACA category, there will be an expansion of the current DACA which will remove the age cap and change the date that continuous presence must have started to 1/1/14.  This should be available in 90 days.  There will also be a new deferred action for parents (DAP).  Parents of US citizens and lawful permanent residents (of any age) who have been continuously present for 5 years may be eligible for deferred action which will be granted for a 3 year period.  This plan is to begin within 180 days. 

Under the legal immigration system changes category, OPT for students in STEM fields will be expanded and entrepreneurs will be able to be paroled into the U.S. for job creation.

This is a very brief explanation of the upcoming changes. Search for the hashtag #immigrationaction to receive up to date information from the White House and continue to check the USCIS website for detailed information.

We will continue to update you as more information develops.