Seattle, U.S.A. — As the implementation date for the deferred action for childhood arrivals, announced by President Obama on June 15, 2012, goes into effect, Avvo, the web’s largest expert-only legal and health Q&A forum and directory released a set of legal guides that provide greater clarity on the program, application process, and eligibility and requirements. The new guides, available on the immigration topic page, and authored by immigration attorneys who answer consumer legal questions on Avvo.com, include:

• What is the DREAM Act and Deferred Action?
• Deferred Action Eligibility & Requirements
• Everything You Need to Know to Apply for Deferred Action
• FAQ:  Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

Since the policy was announced two months ago, Avvo has received hundreds of questions related to the DREAM Act regarding the application process, eligibility, and how the application process will impact family members who are not eligible for the deferment. Further, Avvo has seen an 86 percent increase in the number of immigration-related questions in the first half of 2012 over the same period last year. Texas leads the country with the greatest number of immigration related questions on Avvo.com, followed by California and New York, taking into account population density.

Chicago resident Nevena Georgieva emigrated to the U.S. from Bulgaria nine years ago. She arrived on a green card, and was granted American citizenship five years later. Georgieva is among the millions of people who have received answers to immigration-related questions on Avvo.  “Avvo is an indispensable resource,” said Georgieva.

“I have turned to Avvo for help with my immigration questions, and I’ve used it to get advice regarding my business and for other legal concerns. Not only do I get answers within a couple of hours of asking a question, but I have also benefitted from the thousands of other legal answers and useful resources on the site.”

According to the Pew Hispanic Center up to 1.4 million children and young adults who are in the United States illegally could benefit from the new deportation policy. The 1.4 million estimate includes 700,000 unauthorized immigrants who are ages 18 to 30 but arrived in the U.S as children and are currently enrolled in school or have graduated from high school; and an additional 700,000 who are under the age of 18 and are enrolled in school.

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The DREAM Act could not have been more appropriately christened. Stuck in the whirring cog of bipartisan politics, the legislation has stagnated for over a decade in both the House and the Senate. What was recently announced as the Deferred Action Process for Young People was not the DREAM Act.

Under this process, qualifying applicants are only eligible for the typical two-year work card. Unlike the DREAM Act, Deferred Action will not provide a path to legalization. It will only allow qualifying applicants to legally work and pay taxes. That particular road ends there. Not exactly the reward for a group who, if deserving, should be given the opportunity to obtain that elusive legal status, which remains unchanged by a work permit.

The idea behind the DREAM Act is that children brought to this country, whether legally or illegally, were brought at the behest of their parents and not their own. It’s a simple enough argument: if a young child is brought across the border what say did he or she have at the time? Sometimes these children are brought as young as babies, are raised here for the vast majority of their lives, and are not even fluent in the language of their country of origin.

Sometimes they’re not aware of their lack of status. A social security number does not become a concern until certain milestones begin to appear: getting a first job, obtaining a license, going away for spring break, attending college. A college education can quickly become a pricey illusion, reserved for someone with a different type of birth certificate.

But I digress. The biggest deterrent for the DREAM Act is a factor that is in the very nature of the bill: it lies within the hazy realm of immigration politics. No other political topic can be so adversely affected by other issues in the way that immigration can be. The barometer of immigration can be placed in many fields—in the economy, in international relations, in the interests of big business, and in the murky waters of race politics. Shades of gray abound in this arena.

I am not by any means claiming objectivity here, but I will allege the persuasion of logic. It is hard to argue that laws were intentionally broken by babies and young children. It becomes even sillier to argue that they should be punished for the choices of others, namely their parents who, by the way, should hardly be demonized for trying to give their kids a chance.

I cannot see the harm in rewarding young adults for becoming educated members of society, or for choosing to serve in the armed forces of a nation they desperately wish to call their own.  A chance to allow determined spirits—with a clean criminal record—to legitimately work and pour money into a drained system can only work wonders. This is a system which, by the way, has already devoted many tax dollars towards the education and healthcare of this brood.

Let’s allow them to pay us back for a hefty sum that was—and continues to be—invested, throughout the span of (admittedly short) lifetimes. It only makes sense.

Image Courtesy of  spirit of america / Shutterstock.com

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