The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that it will give visa carriers the option of staying in the United States for a longer period of time under the condition that they arrived as children.
DHS explained the agency wanted to “focus its enforcement resources on the removal of individuals who pose a danger to national security or a risk to public safety, including individuals convicted of crimes with particular emphasis on violent criminals, felons and repeat offenders.”
Homeland Security describes individuals who came to the United States as children as “low priority cases,” and, in order to focus its efforts, DHS will allow these individuals to request consideration for deferred action for a period of two years.
The individuals will also be eligible for employment authorization if their request is granted.
Some of the guidelines to request a deferral include: being under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012; arriving in the United States before reaching the age of 16; continuously residing in the United States since June 15, 2007.
This measure comes only two days after a House subcommittee hearing on the topic of overstayed visas.
House members showed great concerns that fewer and fewer people have been deported in recent years.
Representative Lamar Smith, R-Texas, cited that only 2,500 people were deported for overstayed visas in 2015. He then noted that, “This is, in fact, the fewest number ever deported by this administration in one year.”
Critics have argued that the Obama administration’s actions go beyond prosecutorial discretion to a change in immigration policy that should be legislated by Congress.
