For Immediate Release:
August 14, 2012
Contact:
Edison Alban
518-486-9846
info.ny.gov

New York Launches Access to Lawyers Initiative, Hotline, and Website as Part of the State’s
Childhood Arrivals Deferred Action Program on Wednesday August 15th at 10:30 AM

New York, NY – On Wednesday August 15th, at 10:30AM, Secretary of State Cesar A. Perales will be joined by President of the New York City Bar Association and partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP Carey Dunne, Consuls General of several countries, and Professor of Law at New York Law School Lenni B. Benson to announce an initiative to ensure that New York’s DREAMers take full advantage of the new federal deferred action process without being exploited by scammers.

This program is in response to a change in federal immigration rules that allows certain young people who were brought to the United States as young children to apply for relief from removal from the country and for work authorization. The Obama Administration has called on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to begin implementing the process by August 15, 2012. Estimates suggest that around 800,000 young people nationwide may be eligible for deferred action. Estimates of the number of eligible youth in New York State range from 40,000 to 80,000.

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