Despite all the fanfare over the Obama Administration’s announcement of deferred action status for DREAM-eligible youth, it hasn’t actually begun. Eligible applicants must fill out a form to get the deferred action status for themselves, and that process will commence on August 15. And US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced yesterday that the immigrants will have to pay the US government $465 for the privilege.

Young illegal immigrants can start applying on August 15 for two-year deferrals from deportation, but will have to pay $465 in fees, a top immigration official announced Friday.

The announcement provided the first details of the Obama administration’s policy change announced June 15 that provides some illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children a path to an employment authorization card without fear of getting deported.

Under the new policy, people younger than 30 who came to the United States before the age of 16, pose no criminal or security threat, and were successful students or served in the military can get a two-year deferral from deportation as well as an employment authorization card.

Applicants must meet a number of other requirements, including certification that they have lived continuously in the US for five years, beyond their age and lack of a criminal record and student or military status.

The application costs pay for implementing the policy change, which includes a criminal background check and the verification of biometric detail, which is disturbingly part of the application process. USCI maintains they will not use the private information for immigration enforcement, but of course that’s under this regime and not a future one.

But let’s look at the $465. This may or may not be a barrier to the application process. In some cases, these talented students come from

Read more http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FdlNewsDesk/~3/KoJc3xIEsgg/