Proposed Dream And Promise Act 2019
Author: New York Immigration Attorney Alena Shautsova
With the new year comes new hopes: the House Democrats introduced a new Immigration Bill that potentially can help millions ...those who have TPS and Dreamers. The Bill, if passed, would allow TPS holders to file for a green card directly. Then, once a person spends five years in a green card (permanent resident) status, he/she would be able to file for naturalization (citizenship). For TPS holders: it will potentially help those from El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Nepal, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Nicaragua.
So far, it is unclear how those TPS holders who have an outstanding order of removal/deportation be handled, but hopefully, the new procedure would allow them to reopen their old removal orders and fix the situation with the judge or with USCIS. Again, the proposed Bill is not the law yet.
For DREAMers: the proposal offers a bit more complicated path. Again, as previously, there will be conditional residence first, for ten years. However, the condition can be removed when a child (former child) would complete 2 years in a higher education institution; would serve in the military for 2 years or be employed for 3 years. To get the conditional status, a child would have to have arrived in the US before he/she turned 18 years old and spent here four years before the original DREAM Act was enacted, would not have had a felony or 3 misdemeanors with jail time up to 90 days; graduated from High School or earned a GED, or be pursuing that education.
The issue with DREAMers as well as with TPS holders are outstanding order of removal/deportation; illegal entry and unlawful presence. Hopefully, the Act will cure all those inadmissibility grounds for the conditional residence/ residence.
The text of the Act will be available at www.congress.gov.