Secretary Napolitano Announces Deferred Action Process for Young People Who Are Low Enforcement Priorities

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WASHINGTON— Secretary of HomelandSecurity Janet Napolitano today announced that effective immediately, certainyoung people who were brought to the United States as young children, do notpresent a risk to national security or public safety, and meet several keycriteria will be considered for relief from removal from the country or fromentering into removal proceedings. Those who demonstrate that they meet thecriteria will be eligible to receive deferred action for a period of two years,subject to renewal, and will be eligible to apply for work authorization.
“Our nation’s immigration laws must beenforced in a firm and sensible manner,” said Secretary Napolitano. “But theyare not designed to be blindly enforced without consideration given to theindividual circumstances of each case. Nor are they designed to removeproductive young people to countries where they may not have lived or evenspeak the language. Discretion, which is used in so many other areas, isespecially justified here.”
DHS continues to focus its enforcementresources on the removal of individuals who pose a national security or publicsafety risk, including immigrants convicted of crimes, violent criminals,felons, and repeat immigration law offenders. Today’s action further enhancesthe Department’s ability to focus on these priority removals.
Under this directive, individuals whodemonstrate that they meet the following criteria will be eligible for anexercise of discretion, specifically deferred action, on a case by case basis:
1.Came to the United States under theage of sixteen;
2.Have continuously resided in theUnited States for a least five years preceding the date of this memorandum andare present in the United States on the date of this memorandum;
3.Are currently in school, havegraduated from high school, have obtained a general education developmentcertificate, or are honorably discharged veterans of the Coast Guard or ArmedForces of the United States;
4.Have not been convicted of a felonyoffense, a significant misdemeanor offense, multiple misdemeanor offenses, orotherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety;
5.Are not above the age of thirty.
Only those individuals who can provethrough verifiable documentation that they meet these criteria will be eligiblefor deferred action. Individuals will not be eligible if they are not currentlyin the United States and cannot prove that they have been physically present inthe United States for a period of not less than 5 years immediately precedingtoday’s date. Deferred action requests are decided on a case-by-case basis. DHScannot provide any assurance that all such requests will be granted. The use ofprosecutorial discretion confers no substantive right, immigration status, orpathway to citizenship. Only the Congress, acting through its legislativeauthority, can confer these rights.
While this guidance takes effectimmediately, USCIS and ICE expect to begin implementation of the applicationprocesses within sixty days. In the meantime, individuals seeking moreinformation on the new policy should visit USCIS’s website (at www.uscis.gov),ICE’s website (at www.ice.gov), or DHS’s website (at www.dhs.gov). BeginningMonday, individuals can also call USCIS’ hotline at 1-800-375-5283 or ICE’shotline at 1-888-351-4024 during business hours with questions or to requestmore information on the forthcoming process.
For individuals who are in removalproceedings and have already been identified as meeting the eligibilitycriteria and have been offered an exercise of discretion as part of ICE’songoing case-by-case review, ICE will immediately begin to offer them deferred actionfor a period of two years, subject to renewal.