The DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act is a bi-partisan bill  (proposed law) designed to help undocumented students who entered the United States before age 16.

The proposed law requires the student to have been in the U.S. for five years before the enactment of the law, to have graduated high school or have earned a GED, and to be of good moral character.  Students would be granted conditional permanent resident status for a maximum of six years.  During this time, they would need to either obtain a college degree, complete two years towards a degree, or serve in the military.  On completion of one of these requirements, they would be granted full permanent resident status.

We strongly support the DREAM Act.  The United States deserves the support of students who, although foreign citizens, know this land as theirs.  They deserve our support as well.

Kevin M. Crabtree

We’ve added a slightly more sophisticated blog interface to our website. We hope that this blog will help us to communicate with our clients and others who are concerned about immigrants and their families.

Kevin M. Crabtree

A decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will benefit certain Salvadorans and Guatemalans. Under the NACARA law, Guatemalans who entered the U.S. by October 1, 1990 and Salvadorans who entered by September 19, 1990, may be able to apply for permanent residence.

One requirement of the law is that the applicant have registered for the benefits of the “ABC” program, which was a lawsuit against the former INS. The deadline was in 1991, and varied according to one’s nationality.

Many applicants filed ABC registration forms in 1991. For this group, eligibility for permanent residence under NACARA is clear. Homeland Security conducts ABC interviews prior to asylum interviews to determine if someone is eligible for the NACARA program, and notifies the applicant if he appears to meet the requirements. However, in some cases, applicants have been found ineligible simply for not registering for the ABC program.

On November 30, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals issued a decision finding that simply filing one’s asylum application prior to the deadline to register for ABC benefits was enough to notify the government he wanted to take advantage of the ABC program.

So, certain Guatemalans and Salvadorans may now be eligible to apply for permanent residence, even if they were previously told by the Asylum Office that there was “no credible evidence that you registered for the ABC program.”

We urge long-term undocumented residents to review their immigration situation in light of this new interpretation.

Starting in August, residents of San Francisco will be able to obtain city-issued identification cards. The city will not require proof of immigration status. Card bearers may display them to access city services such as the new Healthy San Francisco plan, library services, transit, and others. Private companies that contract with the city would also be required to accept the cards, and several banks and other companies have already expressed interest in accepting them.

There has been must hope and much disappointment with respect to a possible amnesty. Unfortunately, Congress has not moved forward with any positive legislation. The most recent vote was in October, when the Senate failed to move forward with the DREAM Act that would have been a more limited amnesty targeted at young people.

We will closely monitor developments and post updates here.