In November, President Obama announced plans to improve the nation’s immigration system and provide legal protection – deferred action on deportation – to qualified undocumented immigrants in the United States.
If you’re in the Las Vegas area – or arriving there soon – and you need deferred action, speak immediately with an experienced Las Vegas immigration lawyer. According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the President’s plan includes:
- Deferred action for the parents of U.S. citizens and the parents of lawful permanent resident children, provided these parents meet the eligibility requirements. See a trustworthy immigration attorney for help when applying for deferred action.
- An expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that removes the age cap and moves the continuous presence date to January 1, 2010. DACA will now be granted for three years to those who are eligible, including those with pending renewal applications.
- Replacement of the controversial “Secure Communities” program with a “Priority Enforcement” program. The details of the new program are still unclear.
- Ensuring that job-creating entrepreneurs have legal means to enter and operate in the U.S.
- Increasing access for university-affiliated businesses to identify and obtain key talent.
- Allowing spouses and children of lawful permanent residents to apply for unlawful presence waivers from within the U.S. and ensuring proper standards for adjudicating those waivers.
- Enabling families of individuals trying to enlist in the armed forces to use parole-in-place to ensure their legal status.
- Changing the procedures for adjustment of status to allow legal immigrants caught in the immigration quota backlogs to register their applications and begin the final step of the process.
- Directing agencies to look at modernizing the visa system with a view to making optimal use of the numbers of visas now available under the law.
- A new border security plan, with details still to be worked out.
President Obama has presented the nation with an ambitious plan that may be a first step toward the reforms that the U.S. immigration system so badly needs. If you’re an immigrant – with or without documentation – and you’re in the Las Vegas area or arriving there soon, you can learn more about deferred action or have your other legal concerns addressed by speaking immediately with a trustworthy, experienced Las Vegas immigration attorney.
