On February 16, 2015, a temporary injunction was entered against implementation of the Obama Administration’s executive actions concerning immigration law. This decision will halt all further efforts to get the new immigration programs started. This will also factor into whether the government shuts down USCIS due to no funding. Despite this recent decision to postpone the implementation of the new laws. Legal experts predict that the Federal government will appeal this decision and ultimately prevail so that the new laws for DAPA and DACA will move forward. In fact, USCIS has already hired more than 1000 new employees and set up a new support site to handle the new types of cases. For those who already are in the DACA program, they can continue to renew their applications.
In the interim, it is recommended that those who will be eligible for either expanded DAA or DAPA should begin gathering paperwork that will be needed and retaining counsel that can help them with the process. Hiring notaries or unlicensed individuals posing to know the new process, should be discouraged and can be considered fraudulent and unethical.
For those who believe they will be eligible, it is recommended that qualified attorneys be sought sooner than later to determine what information will be needed and whether there is another type of immigration benefit that may be available at this time.