Washington: At least 30,000 Indians would be among the 1.76 million undocumented illegal immigrants who woul
d benefit from US President Barack Obama’s new policy to defer deportation of illegal immigrants for two years, a new study said.
Using Current Population Survey data from the US Census Bureau, Migration Policy Institute (MPI) estimates that as many as 1.76 million people, under the age of 31, could be at risk of being deported in the future or who are currently in removal proceedings could gain deferred action as a result of the Obama administration policy announced on June 15.
Of these 1.76 million illegal immigrants an estimated 30,000 each are from India, and Korea — the two top countries of origin outside Latin America, MPI said adding that two in
three unauthorised immigrants potentially eligible for deferred action came from Mexico (1.17 million, or 65 per cent).
The next two countries of origin were El Salvador (slightly less than 60,000, or 3 per cent) and Guatemala (50,000, or 3 per cent).
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, which will decide applications on a case-by-case basis, will offer a two-year grant of reprieve from deportation as well as work authorisation to unauthorised immigrants who were under the age of 31 as of June 15, with certain conditions attached.
MPI estimates that 1.26 million of the 1.76 million potential beneficiaries are 15 or older and thus immediately meet the age requirement to apply for deferred action.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has stated that only those who are 15 or older are eligible to file for deferred action when the process gets underway on August 15 this year.
