2012 program offers preview of new action

As President Barack Obama moves forward with his plan to shield millions of immigrants from deportation, an existing programto protect young immigrants in the country illegally demonstrates the life-changing promise of executive action but also its shortcomings, according to experts and government documents.

The initiative in 2012 has given temporary protection to slightly more than 700,000 people brought to the United States illegally as children. Those immigrants say the program has helped them emerge from the shadows, making possible a work permit, a Social Security number and enhanced self--

respect.

But hundreds of thousands who advocacy groups say are eligible have not applied under the program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

Some immigrants say they are afraid they will be rejected and deported, while others are daunted by DACA’s $465 application fee and educational requirements. Yet others remain unfamiliar with the program because of language and cultural barriers.

The DACA initiative is in many ways a template for the measures that Obama announced Nov. 20, which could give as many as 3.7 million undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents relief from deportation for up to three years.

Neither program has backing from Congress, and that limits their scope and durability. The next president could reverse either one with the stroke of a pen.

People on all sides of the immigration debate point to DACA as a success, though a qualified one.

“We know it has made a tremendous beneficial impact in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people,’’ said Patrick Taurel, a legal fellow at the American Immigration Council, a proimmigration group. “But it’s not enough. We ultimately need Congress to step in and create a permanent solution.’’

Although the rollout of DACA has been relatively smooth for a large government program put together in weeks, there have been problems. Immigration advocates say it can take a long time to process applications, and those who want to renew their status face a growing bottleneck.

Those difficulties have led some immigration experts to warn that the government could be overwhelmed by the even larger wave of applications anticipated under Obama’s latest executive action.

“DACA was a bit of a trial run, and overall it’s gone pretty well,’’ said David Martin, a University of Virginia law professor who was a senior legal official in the Department of Homeland Security. “But if we’re talking 4 million people with this new program, that’s going to be an even bigger challenge to gear up to handle it.’’

The same agency that administers DACA— U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a part of DHS — will oversee the new program along with an expansion of DACA that could make up to 300,000 more young immigrants eligible.

A spokesman for the immigration agency said it is processing DACA applications, including renewals, in a timely fashion.

Advocacy groups estimate that up to 1.2 million people were eligible for DACA when the program began and up to 2.1 million could qualify when they got older or went back to school. The Obama administration has never provided an official estimate.

Of the immigrants who have applied, 95 percent have received temporary relief from being deported.

A federal official said some of the people rejected for DACA have criminal records, while others failed to meet additional criteria, which in part include coming to the United States before their 16th birthday and living continuously in the United States since 2007.

Still, many undocumented immigrants won’t take the risk, said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

Afederal official involved in immigration policy said he understands the concern.

“The next president can come in and wipe this all away, and then we have you registered,” the official said.