1.4 Million Affected by Obama Move on Immigrant Youth
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s decision to grant deferred action to certain unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the United States as children could provide relief from deportation to as many as 1.4 million noncitizens under the age of 30, according to a Migration Policy Institute (MPI) analysis released today.
Using 2008-2010 Current Population Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau to update a detailed analysis MPI released in 2010 examining the population potentially eligible under the DREAM Act, MPI estimates as many as 1.4 million people under the age of 30 who are either currently in removal proceedings or who could be at risk of being deported in the future could gain deferred action as a result of the administration’s prosecutorial discretion announcement.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano directed that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel on a case-by-case basis exercise prosecutorial discretion for unauthorized immigrants who were under the age of 16 when they entered the United States, have resided here at least five years and are under the age of 30; are currently in school, have graduated from high school or have a GED, or are honorably discharged from the military or Coast Guard; and have not been convicted of any felony or significant misdemeanor offenses or pose a threat to national security or public safety.
Using the age and educational criteria, MPI has produced the following estimates of those potentially eligible for relief:
| Estimate | |
| Currently in school (K-12) | 800,000 |
| Under 15 | 500,000 |
| 15 and above | 300,000 |
| High school graduate/GED (terminal degree) | 370,000 |
[Photo by Dreamer Movement]
