In one week, the immigration alphabet soup boiled over with news about humanitarian relief: TPS, DACA and a new DAPA program.  (Okay: TPS stands for Temporary Protected Status, and DACA refers to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).  More on these later.  But, among these acronyms, DAPA is the newest program known as Deferred Action for Parental Accountability.  (How do they come up with these names?)  DAPA is a new form of deferred action, i.e., delay or deferment of removal for people who step out of the shadows of undocumented status. It is not a visa, a green card/permanent residence, or citizenship.  Nor is it amnesty or legalization.  Deferred action has been on the books for decades and is a form of prosecutorial discretion.  If granted, recipients will be able to work in the US for three years legally but they will not be able to sponsor relatives.  Technically, the program can be terminated at any time by President Obama, the next President or potentially by Congress, for example, if Congress actually passes a bill with relief for this group. DAPA will start in about six months. Therefore, there is nothing to apply for now!! Details still need to be worked out.

DAPA will have these requirements for people who choose to apply and are out of status.

1.  Individuals must be out of status as of November 20, 2014.

2.  Applicants must be the parent of a US citizen or permanent resident on November 20, 2014. (The DHS memo refers to son or daughter, which presumably means the parent may have an adult child over 21 who is a US citizen or permanent resident, but hopefully, that will be clarified later.)

3. Applicants must have continuously resided in the USA since January 1, 2010.

4. Applicants must be physically present in the US on November 20, 2014 and on date of application.

5.  Applicants cannot be an “enforcement priority” pursuant to the government’s prosecutorial discretion memo of November 20, 2014.

Like all forms of deferred action, applications will be decided case-by-case and in the exercise of discretion (weighing the good facts with the bad facts.) And like DACA, DAPA applicants will undergo biometrics and a security check, will pay a filing fee and cannot travel without advance parole, which cannot be obtained until DAPA is granted. Approval of DAPA will include a work permit most likely based on economic necessity as in DACA, although that requirement remains to be seen.

Although DAPA is not currently available, now is a good time to collect documentation and seek legal advice over the coming months to determine eligibility or other options.  See our prior post, President Obama Announces Executive Action Plans on what documents to gather, where to get legal advice and to be aware of scams.

Back to the alphabet soup:

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was expanded to include nationals of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. This applies to nationals from these countries who have been “continuously residing” in the US since November 20, 2014 and have been “continuously present in” in the US since November 21, 2014. They must register for TPS registration from Nov. 21, 2014 through May 20, 2015, and meet some other requirements. Last month, TPS was extended for certain Nicaraguans and Hondurans. (Follow the preceding links for country-specific details.)

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is the 2012 and 2014 program for those that came to the US before age 16. See a prior blog post, President Obama expands DACA.