The Dream Act: Has The Congress Failed The Dreamers?

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All of her professional experience is based at the DACA program center. When she began practicing immigration law, she worked as a civil rights attorney, working in the world of immigrant rights. She worked with a national group called ACLU (American Civil Rights Union).

She was on June 15, 2012, at a national conference, with all the states that were participating and working in that same organization, talking about immigrant rights.

This happened when the Obama administration made that DACA announcement on that date, and from that day forward Attorney Krystal knew she wanted to leave the world of lawsuits, and wanted to work with people individually and with these types of cases.

Her first client when she was doing a private immigration case was a DACA client. This was the first of many types of cases.

What Does The Initial DACA Pause Represent?

This case of this federal judge is something that’s in the public’s opinion, but most of these people don’t even have anything to do with immigration issues.

They believe that the Dreamers, that they are people who have the right to be here in the United States because this is the only country that most of these applicants know and is the place where they have spent their entire lives.

We know that this goes against public opinion, but it is simply a big mistake, and it is difficult for us and our clients especially, for the simple fact that they cannot get (by a decision beyond our control) their papers, and we are wasting time.

Every year that goes by that we can’t do anything with these initial DACAs is one less year that these people have to start their lives, have a Work Permit, and be able to support their families.

Will DACA Continue Or Is It Possible To Terminate The Program?

We have 10 years of DACA, and what happened was a problem with Congress because they couldn’t get the job done, so all of us are voting to see if there is hope that they can get these bills done that are sensitive issues.

For now, they can’t do anything, and that’s because in President Obama’s administration something needed to be done to help, and the Dreamers were the ones who made DACA possible, they were organizing and taking the forces to pass this program action.

We don’t think this was the only way to help the Dreamers, this was a temporary action to give the U.S. Congress more time.

They are the ones who can pass or approve something permanently, so these Dreamers can process their residency to citizenship.

Congress finally made the decision that they didn’t need to take any kind of action, and here we are, 10 years with this temporary program, where we don’t know what’s going to happen with it, this whole problem is left in the hands of the U.S. Congress.

Impact Of The DACA Program Within Lincoln-Goldfinch Law

For the administrator of Lincoln-Goldfinch Law, Fidel Campuzano, the DACA program has represented many benefits, the simple fact of being able to be here with us is because he has his DACA, thanks to that program he can work here with us because he has his Work Permit.

With his story and his immigration process, he has been able to help the community and the thousands of clients we have helped here at the firm.

The impact has been quite large in the immigrant community in the United States.

The reason why Fidel met this excellent firm was that he managed DACA workshops, and in those workshops, they met and started together to help the whole community to apply for the benefits that Fidel already had.

The battle began in 2001 because it was the first time that the Dream Act was introduced in the U.S. Congress.

Other versions of this Dream Act were introduced, so it was not until 2012 that President Obama announced this executive order, 11 years of waiting for something to be done on this issue, and now, from the time DACA was announced until now, another 10 years have flown by.

We hope that soon this will be something permanent, so that either a residency, citizenship, or really whatever they give us, it will be a little better than DACA because as attorney Krystal mentioned, we know that this is temporary and not what we wanted. It is not the goal that all of us who were organizing and all those who continue to organize marches and all those who continue to fight for something more.

This DACA program was extremely limiting for the immigrant community because of the requirements, it did not benefit the community as much.

Also, one of the goals is to be able to obtain something that benefits not only the Dreamers but also our parents, our relatives who were left out in 2012.

Are DACA & The Dream Act The Same Thing?

They are different programs. The Dream Act is something that nothing else can go through Congress, the DACA program was something the president did himself, it did not need congressional approval.

That is the problem with the lawsuit that is currently happening in Texas, but the Dream Act was something more permanent, it was to help the Dreamers, so they can get residency, and then, citizenship.

What Is The Legal Scope Of DACA For An Immigrant?

One of the common misconceptions that people have is that once they are accepted into the program, everything is ready and settled, that they don’t need to obtain eligibility every time they need to renew their DACA.

Applicants do not know that if they commit a crime such as a DWI, it can damage their DACA because they will not be able to renew it if they have an outstanding record.

If you don’t renew your DACA in a year, you need to reapply as if it were a new case, an initial DACA, and since we are now on hiatus with these cases, yes you can stay there pending that application is submitted, but you won’t be able to get a decision on your case for years, and this is because we know what is going to happen with the initial DACA program.

Most of the community is surprised when we tell them that they have to renew their Work Permit every 2 years, that there is no path to residency or no path to citizenship, it is not possible nowadays, and most people are surprised.

That is also another part where the community does not know that it is just a Work Permit, and it has to be renewed every 2 years, there is no way to obtain residency or citizenship for a DACA case.

Many people think that because you have DACA, it will speed up the process when you ask for your spouse, or your spouse, a brother, or a sister.

Does Overturning Roe V Wade Put DACA At Greater Risk Of Being Terminated Completely?

We think there is a risk, we don’t think this case is any riskier than Roe V Wade, we think that the conservative judges who are there, had the goal of overturning Roe V Wade since they were in law school.

In comparison, the DACA program is not so important in their position to repeal, but there are possibilities and there are risks.

It would not be fair for us to leave the Dreamers with nothing, because the majority of public opinion is that those Dreamers need and deserve a chance to have a life here legally, working legally. After all, if not, DACA will become something different.

What Is Advance Parole?

Advance Parole is a special Travel Permit for people who have DACA, so they can travel if they need to go somewhere for humanitarian reasons.

You must have evidence of the reasons for which you are requesting this permission, it cannot be, for example, to take a vacation in your home country.

If they have family members who are sick, something happened in their country, for education if they are going to go and study, or for work if they need to go to a conference or attend a project, something that is outside the United States.

With DACA & A Citizen Child Can I Petition For My Family?

There is no way to gain citizenship or residency through the DACA program currently, and we think that in time it might be possible, but Congress is not taking any quick action, and we don’t know when it will happen.

While inside the United States with a Visa, there is a possibility of petitioning the family if the person marries someone who is a citizen or resident, since in that way we could begin a process on behalf of the marriage.

When your child who is a citizen turns 21 years of age, we can file paperwork on behalf of that as well, but no one should get married just for the papers or to start an immigration case if they are not working.

You should not get married to apply for an immigration case or to have that option. If you need to go and travel to visit your family, you should use DACA Advance Parole, you can call us and we can help you help us with that.

If you have further questions about your initial DACA, your Work Permit, or your specific case, you can contact us at (855) 502-0555. After a brief 10-minute evaluation of your case over the phone, we will let you know what options you have. You can also follow us on our social networks so you don’t miss our weekly broadcasts on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch.