Biden urged to protect ‘Documented Dreamers’

Washington: A bipartisan group of 43 lawmakers has urged the Biden administration to take urgent action to protect more than 250,000 Documented Dreamers, a significantly large number of whom are Indians, who will be forced to self-deport after ageing out of the temporary legal status derived through their parents' visas. Documented Dreamers are foreign nationals who entered the United States as dependents under their parents' temporary, nonimmigrant visa status, usually a work visa.

Despite growing up in the US with legal status, children of long-term visa holders age out of their dependent status when they turn 21 and are often left with no choice but to leave the United States if they cannot transition to a new status, the lawmakers said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur M Jaddou. “This is because, in part, their families' adjustment of status applications face extensive backlogs, preventing them from securing permanent resident status,” the letter said.

The campaign was led by Senator Alex Padilla, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, and Representative Deborah Ross, who have introduced a bipartisan legislative push to protect over 250,000 Documented Dreamers through America's CHILDREN Act. “These young people grow up in the United States, complete their education in the American school system, and graduate with degrees from American institutions,” wrote the lawmakers.

“However, due to the long green-card backlog, families with approved immigrant petitions are often stuck waiting decades for permanent resident status.” “While we continue to pursue legislative solutions to permanently protect these individuals, such as the bipartisan and bicameral America's Children Act of 2023, we urge you to take administrative action to protect the thousands of children who may be forced to self-deport each year,” continued the lawmakers. Specifically, the lawmakers made three recommendations to help address the ongoing threats Documented Dreamers face.

This includes clarifying the use of deferred action on a case-by-case basis, where discretion is warranted, for children of long-term visa holders who age out of status; and expanding eligibility for Employment Authorisation to child dependents of visa holders and those with approved I-140 petitions (for a noncitizen worker to become a permanent resident in the United States).