WAIVER ATTRACTS FEWER THAN EXPECTED

Program grants two-year reprieve from deportation for eligible younger applicants

By Elizabeth Aguilera12:01 a.m.April 15, 2013Updated8:35 p.m.April 14, 2013

A controversial program that gives young unauthorized immigrants a temporary waiver from deportation has attracted far fewer people than was initially projected after its launch last summer.

The factors may be President Barack Obama’s re-election, a $465 application fee and the prospect of large-scale immigration reform this year, immigration experts said.

In addition, a considerable number of people meet all of the program’s requirements except for not yet being 15 — the minimum age to apply. And some have not satisfied the education standard because they are not currently enrolled in school or lack a high school diploma or General Educational Development certification.

The result: As of March 14, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program had received 469,530 applications since it began in mid-August. That compares with the Migration Policy Institute’s estimate of 1.7 million unauthorized immigrants who would be eligible immediately or eventually.

Applications to the program peaked in October — with more than 113,000 submitted — and have fallen to less than a third of that count in recent months, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. As of mid-March, the agency had approved 245,493 cases and rejected 15,941.

Locally, Daniel Alfaro has noticed a clear drop-off in the number of youths attending workshops about the program that are hosted by Alliance San Diego. Nearly 9,000 people have attended seven information forums, 11 assessment forums and eight application workshops led by the affiliated Dreamer Assistance Network since last summer.

“I think the main reason for the slowdown is a combination of the applicant, families not having the money to cover the cost to apply and the belief that immigration reform is just around the corner,” said Alfaro, who oversees Deferred Action outreach for Alliance San Diego. “I try to explain to them the benefits of applying for (the program) and encourage them to apply now and not wait for immigration reform, which may or may not benefit them and may or may not come into effect until next year.”

Local attorneys who have been helping unauthorized immigrants with the Deferred Action application process, either directly with clients or by volunteering through nonprofit community workshops, said the slump began after the November presidential election. They said before Obama won a second term, people were rushing to lock in Deferred Action’s two-year deportation exemption — with potential renewal — because they feared that Republican nominee Mitt Romney would discontinue the program.

Deferred Action status also grants a work permit and the chance to obtain a driver’s license if the applicant is from California.

“When this came out, everyone was a little afraid or uncertain. Then there was a big push to get people educated and let them know this is a safe thing to do if you were qualified,” said Anna Hysell, an immigration attorney who runs the North County Immigration law firm in Cardiff. “It’s not cheap. Sometimes people have limited means, so they might be holding off waiting to see if immigration reform will pass. ... The danger is that there is no guarantee of reform, and they don’t have protection in the meantime.”

A request to interview officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services about Deferred Action was referred to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment.

Of the projected 1.7 million unauthorized immigrants who would qualify for the program, the Migration Policy Institute estimated that about a third of them have not reached the minimum age to apply.

An additional 350,000 are old enough but have not finished high school, have not earned a GED or are not enrolled in a qualifying education program. Immigration experts said that anecdotally, they are hearing about spikes in enrollment for adult-education programs nationwide as unauthorized immigrants seek to qualify for Deferred Action. No official study has been conducted on that issue.

Since the application period opened, California has ranked as the state with the highest number of applicants — more than 128,000. Texas ranks second with slightly more than 72,000, followed by New York, Illinois and Florida.

Mexico has topped the list of applicants’ countries of origin, with 338,334 applications. The other nations in the top five are El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Peru.

The application process includes a biometrics appointment with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to take fingerprints, verification of various categories of information and a background check.

Immigration attorney Vidal Cordova has been volunteering at the Alliance San Diego workshops for the law firm Jacobs & Schlesinger in downtown San Diego, which co-hosts those events. Cordova helps prescreen applicants and assists with filing applications for youths who are ready to do so.

The initial workshops were daylong events that attracted hundreds of young people, and now up to 50 come per session, Cordova said. The next workshop is set to take place Wednesday.

One workshop participant has been Alejandra Garcia of Chula Vista, who is in the process of applying after saving enough money to pay the $465 fee by doing graphics design work on a contract basis. Garcia, who was brought to the United States from Mexico at age 9, is now 21 and a student at Southwestern College.

“I believe a lot of undocumented youths are scared, and also one of the biggest issues is the fee,” Garcia said.

One trend seems to be that students have an advantage in the application process, said attorney Rose Kasusky of the firm Kasusky Law in downtown San Diego. Those who are in school have a more ready stable of documents to show they have been in the United States continuously since arriving here — another requirement for the Deferred Action program.

Among her cases, “(the government is) quickly adjudicating applications for when the person is in school and taking a lot longer when the applicant is no longer in school,” Kasusky said. “Maybe it’s some way of rewarding applicants who are currently in school or encouraging them to continue. It’s a really good program, it’s giving these young people a chance they didn’t have before.”

elizabeth.aguilera @utsandiego.com (619) 293-1717 Twitter: @utsdaguilera

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