A Flood of Applications, With a Trickle of Approvals

By JULIA PRESTON Published: September 27, 2012  NYT

Justino Mora had been checking his e-mail several times a day for weeks to see if there was any word from a federal immigration agency on his application for a reprieve from deportation.       As of Thursday the agency, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, had received more than 100,000 applications, officials said, with more than 63,000 in the last stages of review. But so far the agency has confirmed only 29 approvals.       Read more

Napolitano Defends Deferred Action on Immigration Enforcement for Qualified Young Illegal Aliens

By: Mickey McCarter  07/20/2012 ( 9:30am)

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano assured lawmakers Thursday that deferred action for some qualified young illegal aliens would help the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) focus its limited resources on criminal threats.
Moreover, DHS would implement the process of deferring immigration enforcement among some illegal aliens aged 30 or younger carefully to ensure that it is not subject to fraud and that it does not result in sanctuary for criminal aliens, Napolitano told a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee.
Although the hearing marked the 40th time Napolitano has testified before Congress in her tenure as homeland security secretary, it marked her first appearance since her memorandum June 15 granting deferred action for a two-year period to young illegal aliens who committed no felonies or major misdemeanors and applied for the program. Read more