Find out if you are eligible for Administrative Relief

A Texas judge issued an injunction to delay the application process and deportation relief announced by President Obama last November. (Expanded DACA, and DAPA.) But the current DACA program, first announced in 2012, is still in effect. Attend one of our Mobile Immigration Clinics to apply for the original DACA program, or renew your application, or find out if you will be eligible to apply for DAPA (Deferred Action for Parental Accountability) or Expanded DACA when the programs begin.

DAPA:
• Have US citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident children;
• Entered US before January 1, 2010;
• Physically present and no lawful status on November 20, 2014;
• Not ineligible because of criminal convictions or immigration violations.

Expanded DACA:
• Entered US before turning 16 years old;
• Entered US before January 1, 2010;
• Physically present and no lawful status on November 20, 2014;
• Have HS or GED diploma or currently enrolled in school;
• At least 15 years old;
• Not ineligible because of criminal convictions or immigration violations.

Original DACA (first time applicants, also can renew your DACA status.)

• Born on/after June 15, 1981 and are at least 15 years old; 
• Came to the U.S. before June 15, 2007 and before turning 16 years old; 
• Have a High School or GED diploma or are currently enrolled in school; 
• No felony, significant misdemeanor or multiple misdemeanor convictions

The 2015 Immigrant Equality Agenda

By Kevin Tejada 

 

With a New Year just beginning, immigration activists are not winding down their efforts to advocate for the immigration reforms necessary in our country.  On Monday January 5^th, members of the New York Immigration coalition, their allies which included the Hudson Valley Community Coalition, Neighbors Link, Hispanic Resource Center, Cabrini Immigrant Services and the Westchester Hispanic Coalition, with the support of local lawmakers introduced the Immigrant Equality Agenda.  Coalition members made their case at the Westchester Hispanic Coalition, located in White Plains.

The hopes of this year’s immigrant equality agenda include: ensuring that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers have the resources and services available to apply for administrative relief, supporting the educational and health needs unaccompanied children who fled violence in Central America, to combat work place abuses and improve wages and working conditions for the hundreds of dairy farm workers in New York State. The passage of the New York State Dream Act, tops the list of goals in the agenda.

 

News 12 Westchester and Verizon FiOS1 News were present at the event.  After the press conference was over, I got the chance to speak with the News 12 reporter. This gave me the opportunity to talk about why I am so passionate about the issues discussed during the conference, particularly the passage of the Dream Act.  The news reporter asked me if I myself am an undocumented college student. I am not.  And although it was a fair thing to ask, the question really struck me by surprise and it made me think about how the battle to pass the Dream Act and other pro-immigrant legislation should not be exclusive to the undocumented immigrants that would benefit from them. Immigration policy affects all aspects of society, thus it affects all of us. Regardless of status, immigrants have always played a central role in the life and growth of our nation. Immigrants contribute $10 billion a year to this country's economic growth. I do not have to be undocumented to advocate for the rights of immigrants. I am a strong believer and supporter of the Dream Act and I consider myself part of the Dreamer movement. Dreamers as the name of their movement suggests are students just like me who have dreams and aspirations. I am a Dreamer.

 

I am in full support of the passage of the Dream Act because I think it is outrageous that some of my peers who have the same potential as me to succeed in college, do not have the opportunity to keep pursuing their dreams. Our government invests in these students through our public system but why stop after they graduate from high school? Why not continue to support these students through college? We are cutting these students’ wings and we can’t continue to do that. The United States is known for being the land of dreams but for a lot of dreamers these dreams are far from possible. It is because of this that the passage of the Dream Act is necessary in our country.  In the past few years Dreamers have been more influential than they have been visible, but my hope for 2015 is that we become both more influential and visible with the passage of the Dream Act.

Take Action! Email us at info@hvccoalition.org to:

*Join the NYS Dream Act Coalition;

*Be added to the HVCC listserv to get notice of upcoming actions, workshops and community news;

*Schedule a DACA/DAPA Informational Workshop in your community;

*Take Part in Albany Day, NYIC’s Immigrant Day of Action on March 3;

*Join or learn more about UNIR, the Upstate Network for Immigrant Rights; or

*Volunteer with Us

New USCIS Office in Newburgh

By Kevin Tejada

                            

For residents of the Hudson Valley area needing the U.S. Citizenship and immigration services meant having to travel all the way to New York City or Albany. This will no longer have to be the case. The Newburgh Armory Unity Center is pleased to announce the opening of a brand new USCIS Office in our area, which is the only one between New York City and Albany. This new USCIS Office will provide its services to the local immigrant community of the Mid-Hudson region.

Because the only two closest USCIS Offices were located in New York City and Albany, in the past people in need of USCIS would spend a lot of time and money to travel to either one of this two offices. Obtaining the services provided by USCIS is costly and the new office in Newburgh would reduce the cost of loss wages and traveling expenses. The local immigrant community will no longer have to make to spend hundreds of dollars on repeated trips to New York City. The new USCIS office will be accessible to New York residents of Dutchess, Ulster, and Orange, Sullivan, Putnam and Rockland counties.

USCIS agents will provide customer service assistance with:

·         Forms (Petitions/Applications)

·         Case Status Inquiries

·         Reschedule Requests

·         Green Card Production Inquiries

·         ELIS Issues

·         Adit Stamps

·         Emergency Advance Paroles

·         General Immigration Information

Getting fingerprinted is a major step in becoming a U.S. citizen. Fingerprinting services will be provided starting Friday, August 29^th.

For starters, the USCIS mobile office at the Newburgh Armory will be open two Fridays a month from 8am – 4pm. The Newburgh Armory Unity Center is located in 321 S William St, Newburgh, NY 12550. Days of operation for the remainder of the year are:

August 15, 2014                                October 24, 2014

August 29, 2014                                November 7, 2014

September 12, 2014                         November 21, 2014

September 26, 2014                         December 5, 2014

October 10, 2014                              December 19, 2014

DACA Renewals

By Kevin Tejada

Since being enacted in 2012 by President Obama, DACA has allowed nearly 600,000 DREAMers who met various conditions to get temporary work permits and two-year deportation relief. Those who applied and qualified in 2012 have been able to get work permits and driver's licenses. But it has been two years already and those who qualified for DACA must renew their applications. DACA must be renewed every two years.  When it comes to immigration issues nothing is ever too simple and of course you can't just simply renew after two years, there is a specific time frame that those who need to renew must follow. Individuals must file renewal requests 120-150 days before their current period of deferred action expires. DACA must be renewed every two years; it is not a permanent program.

                The renewal process begins by filing the new version of Form I-821D “Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,” Form I-765 “Application for Employment Authorization,” and the I-765 Worksheet. There is a filing and biometrics (fingerprints and photo) fee associated with Form I-765 totaling $465. As with an initial request, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will conduct a background check when processing DACA renewals.

Those who wish to request a DACA renewal must continue to meet the initial criteria (http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca) and these additional guidelines:

·         Did not depart the United States on or after Aug. 15, 2012, without advance parole;

·         Have continuously resided in the United States since they submitted their most recent DACA request that was approved; and

·         Have not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor or three or more misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.

And because not everyone applied and qualified for DACA at the same time, not everyone applies for a renewal at the same time. The time to request a renewal is different for each individual. For the first people that qualified for DACA two years ago it is time for them to renew now, but 2012 was not the only year you could apply for DACA. Individuals who have yet to benefit from DACA and who qualify can apply for the first time at any moment.  If the request for DACA is approved the individual will benefit from a two-year deportation relief and work authorization program.

The Hudson Valley Community Coalition is running the HVCC Mobile Immigration Legal Clinic in Ossining, N.Y. at St. Ann's Church, every Wednesday from 5pm to 7pm. Sister Kelly Carpenter will be there to help with DACA renewals or first time applications. The attorney services are free but the person applying for a DACA renewal must be ready to pay the USCIS filing fees (which can total $465).  The Mobile Immigration Clinic also runs in Middletown, NY at Literacy Orange on the second Saturday of each month, in Peekskill at Hudson River Health Care's Main Street office, on August 14 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm, and in Yonkers at the VIVE School by appointment on Wednesdays from 9 am to 3 pm.  

NYS DREAM MARCH AND RALLY

DREAMers and supporters from all over the Hudson Valley come together in Ossining to say with one voice New York State DREAM ACT for ALL. WE WILL MARCH, WE WILL FIGHT for opportunity for our future.

Sadness

By Paul Yumbla

Scouring the Internet for more personal and compelling tales about immigration reform than simply hearing the argument conveyed through a speechwriter I stumbled upon the following image.

(Source: Scott Olson/Getty Images North America)

The above photograph is of undocumented immigrant Guillermo Campos-Ojeda as he says goodbye to his wife and young daughter before boarding a deportation flight chartered by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I include this tragic image for two reasons. The first is the obvious notion that more people need to see this. The second is the personal element conveyed in this photograph that does more than tug the heartstrings. Images, personal turmoil, and witnessing a family disaster like this allows for this country's broken immigration system to be seen through a different light. It’s something else to see the face of deportation rather than hearing arguments about immigration control come from politicians. These are real people, many of them extremely hard-working and willing to sacrifice a tremendous amount to not only put food on the table but offer their children a brighter future. Many of them are locked away for no other reason but being here illegally, jailed up with all sorts of convicts.

My thoughts on education and its state of disarray

By Paul Yumbla.

(photo from the Precious Knowledge Film website)

At the Latin American Studies center at the University of Connecticut where the movie “Precious Knowledge” was screened earlier this week, I had the opportunity to connect with Latino students, as well as getting the chance to meet with Teach for America. This film shed light onto the racial tensions surrounding the Tucson community before, during, and after the removal of Ethnic/Raza studies in public high schools. This helped put unfortunate situations such as this Arizona controversy into perspective. There are teachers that are trying to operate under a regime that serves the very few and often from a very specific zip code.

I recommend this film for anyone interested in hearing the voice of those criticized for attempting to see where they fit in. As a future teacher, this strikes a chord with me. It drives forward my ambition to make social change in any way. I am a teacher.  I would love to be able to teach.  Just teach. Not document every sentence, jump through a different hoop every year, justify my existence, or give endless standardized tests.

I want to be able to teach, encourage and inspire. To help each child discover his/her own strengths. To challenge children's minds and help them develop essential skills. To create thinkers. I would love to be able to teach. I bring experience from my early age to any conversation, debate, and discussion revolving around education.