New USCIS Website for Entrepreneurs

Mooers Immigration — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 17:17:09 +0000

For the last several years, the immigration service has struggled to find ways to adapt laws and policies written in the mid-20th Century to the new realities of the early 21st Century. Laws based on brick and mortar businesses, stable multi-national corporations, and manufacturing have been particularly difficult in the new environment of information technology, virtual offices, and e-commerce.

Earlier in 2012, USCIS pulled together entrepreneurs and cutting-edge business leaders to perform a 360 degree evaluation to understand the demands of business and entrepreneurism in the 21st Century. Coming out of this process is a series of recommendations to help the immigration service promote entrepreneurism and investment in the United States while still implementing current immigration law and protecting the public against fraud and abuse.

The first tangible element of this initiative is the launch of the new USCIS website Entrepreneur Pathways. We encourage you to visit the site and see whether it provides new information and innovation. Let us know what you think.

Many Hesitant to Apply for Deferred Action

Mooers Immigration — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 11:50:18 +0000

The Department of Homeland Security announced last week that a small group of Deferred Action applications has been approved. Since the application process became available on August 15, approximately 72,000 applications have been submitted, a much smaller number than anticipated. With free clinics and workshops offering legal advice and application assistance, why have so few of the more than 1.7 million eligible applicants actually applied? While there are a number of potential reasons for the low application numbers, there seem to be two main issues causing potential DACA applicants to delay their applications:

1. The upcoming election

Should Mitt Romney become our next president, he has suggested that he will reverse the Deferred Action initiative. Uncertainty over what will then happen to the beneficiaries of Deferred Action, their families, and individuals who have submitted applications has deterred a number of potential applicants from applying.

2. Fear of divulging information

In applying for Deferred Action, individuals must provide information to the US Government, including personal information, information about their families, and any and all Social Security Numbers and identities used during their time in the US. Failing to provide this information or lying about it on application forms is considered fraud. USCIS has promised not to turn individuals over to ICE unless they pose a threat to national security, but they have yet to answer other questions, such as what will happen to individuals who admit to using fake identities or Social Security numbers.

With many questions still unanswered and many rules still undefined, many are hesitant to take advantage of Deferred Action. For those who are concerned, it may be advisable to wait to submit an application until USCIS has provided further clarification on the initiative’s grey areas.

Mooers Immigration » USCIS

New USCIS Website for Entrepreneurs

Many Hesitant to Apply for Deferred Action