Lawmakers introduce legislation in US Cong to protect documented dreamers
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation in the US Congress that proposes protection to children of documented dreamers, a significant majority of whom are Indian Americans, from self-deportation after turning 21 years.
Long-term visa holders known as documented dreamers, who are estimated to be about 250,000, grew up legally in the US but risk deportation when they turn 21 years old.
The current system forces documented dreamers to leave the US and return to their country of birth, robbing them of their future and livelihoods in America.
Introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate, America’s CHILDREN Act would allow individuals to obtain permanent residency if they were brought to the US as dependent children of workers admitted under employment visas, have maintained status in the US for 10 years (including eight years as dependents), and have graduated from an institution of higher education.
It would also protect any child who has been in the US for an aggregate of eight years before the age of 21 as a dependent of an employment-based non-immigrant by allowing them to remain dependent on their parent’s non-immigrant visa until they can find another status.
The Bill, among other things, establishes age-out protections that lock in a child’s age on the date on which their parents file for a Green Card and would provide work authorisation for individuals qualifying for age-out protection.
