Applications Begin Wednesday For Deferred Deportations

August 14, 2012

The United States will begin accepting applications Wednesday for qualifying illegal immigrants to be granted a two-year reprieve from deportation. But some questions about the program remain.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is geared toward people who were brought here illegally as children, are under 31 years old and in school or have finished high school. If they do qualify, they can apply for a work permit. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials were careful to note that it's not an amnesty program.

"Allow me to underscore a point that we have made previously. Deferred action does not provide lawful status or a pathway to permanent residence for citizenship," said CIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas.

What isn’t clear yet is how qualifying immigrants will be viewed by states. CIS officials say only that tuition rules vary widely from state to state. As for driver’s licenses, that’s another unknown.

A spokesman for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said her state still hasn’t received clear definitions from Homeland Security.