Rep. Rangel on President Obama's Deferred Action Initiative for DREAMers

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressman Charles B. Rangel participated in a press conference led by Congressman Luis Gutierrez, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Immigration Taskforce, and attended by two dozen members of Congress, representing several congressional caucuses. The participants directed their attention to those eligible under President Barack Obama's immigration deferred action initiative, encouraging them to avoid paying hefty fees to lawyers or anyone else and to come forward on August 15th, the first day undocumented immigrants can apply for deferred action.

President Obama's deferred action initiative sets five criteria for qualification for potential beneficiaries:

• They must have come to the US before they turned 16;
• They must have been born after June 15, 1981;
• They must have continuously resided in the US since June 15, 2007, and must have been present in the US on June 15, 2012;
• They must currently be in school, have received a high school diploma or GED, or been honorably discharged from the US Armed Forces or the Coast Guard;
• They must not have been convicted of a felony, a "significant misdemeanor," multiple misdemeanor offenses, or otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety. Anyone applying for deferred action would need to go through a criminal background check.


Rangel has been a long-time supporter of the DREAM Act, dating all the way back to 2001 when he co-sponsored the legislation when it was first introduced. In addition to his strong backing of the DREAM Act, he frequently hosts events benefiting the immigrant community in his district, which is made up of a huge immigrant population. Earlier this summer, Rangel partnered with numerous organizations to host an immigration fair, which aimed to provide free consultation on the immigration process and paths to citizenship.

After the announcement of the deferred action policy by President Obama on June 15, 2012, Rangel made the following statement: "Ultimately, what we must recognize is that our immigrant communities are just as American as the rest of us. They came here to pursue the American Dream; they believed that education and hard work could lead to a better life. The shift in policy by the Department of Homeland Security is a shift toward justice. It recognizes that people brought here as children by their parents deserve a fair shot at success in this country, not deportation."

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