Immigration Reform and Administrative Relief: 2014 and Beyond

Topics:
  • Administrative Relief
  • Deferred Action

On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced a series of unprecedented Executive actions to reform the US immigration system, including the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the establishment of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program.  An estimated 5.4 million persons met the eligibility criteria for temporary status and employment authorization under the DAPA program (3.9 million) and the original and expanded DACA programs (1.5 million). The announcement of the DAPA and expanded DACA programs mobilized a large, nationally coordinated initiative, under the rubric of the Committee for Immigration Reform Implementation (CIRI), to plan for these programs and (ultimately) for a broader legalization program.  The CIRI initiative has concentrated on expanding the capacity of community-based immigrant service agencies, maximizing the use to technology to educate the public and to provide the tools to allow unauthorized immigrants to assess their eligibility for relief, fighting the exploitation of immigrants by unscrupulousnotarios, and strengthening partnerships in communities nationwide. In an important new report published in the Journal on Migration and Human Security, CIRI’s Human Resources Working Group details the human and financial resources that will be needed to build community capacity in order to coordinate the successful implementation of a large-scale legalization program.  Drawing on lessons from the Immigrant Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), DACA, and other initiatives, the paper provides a roadmap for implementation of administrative and legislative immigration reform. The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) invites you to join lead authors of this report — Charles Kamasaki (National Council of La Raza), Susan Timmons (American Immigration Lawyers Association), and Courtney Tudy (World Relief) – to discuss their key finding related to the capacity and funding needs of community-based immigrant-service agencies.  They will also discuss next steps for the CIRI network, including the substantial populations of unauthorized immigrants that the CIRI network plans to serve, notwithstanding delays in implementation of DAPA and expanded DACA and the absence of Congressional action on immigration.

Speakers:

  • Donald Kerwin, Executive Director, Center for Migration Studies (moderator)
  • Charles Kamasaki, Senior Cabinet Advisor, National Council of La Raza
  • Susan Timmons, Associate Director, Practice & Professionalism, American Immigration Lawyers Association
  • Courtney Tudi, Managing Attorney, Capacity Building, World Relief

Registration:
Space is limited. To register, visit http://goo.gl/forms/8CKlQHS4JN.

IAN Partners

  • pro bono net
  • american immigration lawyers association
  • national immigration law center
  • unidos us
  • immigration legal resource center
  • immigration legal resource center
  • american immigration council
  • american civil liberties union
  • american immigration council
  • national immigration project
  • the advocates for human rights
  • lutheran immigration and refugee service

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