Excitement is building for DREAMers and their families waiting for the President's "Deferred Action" policy to launch, so that the process of application, work authorizations, social security cards and finally driver's licenses can begin.

After meeting with hundreds of DREAMers over the past 23 years, and advocating for the DREAM Act, I can hardly control my own excitement and absolute thrill over the benefits that this small measure will give my DREAMer clients. Countless parents of DREAMers have told me with tears in their eyes how much responsibility and guilt they feel for their part in their children's lack of immigration status and how they would do anything to rectify the situation.

However, for those without legal guidance during this process, both DREAMers and their parents need to use great caution before applying! As with any other immigration law, not everyone qualifies. Even children with no criminal record, who would otherwise qualify may not due to strict technical requirements.

The State of Florida has been selecting "suspected noncitizen" registered voters from the Florida voter rolls for voter purging. Under this policy, officials have been reviewing Florida driver's license application databases for Florida drivers who initially registered as noncitizens and are comparing those names with those on state voter registration rolls. The flaw in this procedure is that many naturalized immigrants fail to update their license records with their new citizenship status. These voters are now at risk of being deleted from the voter registration rolls. Naturalized citizens are warned not to assume that they remain on the official voter rolls. You can easily check your voter registration status online by going to http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voter-registration/voter-reg.shtml/ .If your name is not recognized as a registered voter, you should immediately contact the supervisor of elections in your county to re-register. For Broward, call 954-357-7050, for Miami- Dade, call 305-499-8683 and for Palm Beach, call 561-656-6200.

ICE announces policy to assist eligible DREAMer cases
Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) announced recently that the agency will assist immigration attorneys who represent DREAMers eligible for Deferred Action, by joining in on court motions to reopen cases. Once cases are reopened, young immigrants who are eligible will be allowed to apply under the new Deferred Action policy once the program is available for application.

The State of Florida has been selecting "suspected noncitizen" registered voters from the Florida voter rolls for voter purging. Under the policy, officials have been reviewing Florida driver's license application databases for Florida drivers who initially registered as noncitizens and are comparing those names with those on state voter registration rolls. The flaw in this procedure is that many naturalized immigrants fail to update their license records with their new citizenship status. These voters are now at risk of being deleted from the voter registration rolls under this new policy. Naturalized citizens are warned not to assume that they remain on the official voter rolls. You can easily check your voter registration status online by going to their website at this link.

If your name is not recognized as a registered voter, you should immediately contact the supervisor of elections in your county to re-register. For Broward, call 954-357-7050, for Miami- Dade, call 305-499-8683 and for Palm Beach, call 561-656-6200.

The USCIS has redesigned its site to include an online naturalization resource center, which provides not only study materials, but videos, publications, practice tests and flash cards to help people prepare for the naturalization test and interview. To view the USCIS online resource page go to http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/citizenship

You can learn more about naturalization by visiting our website at www.ImmigrateToday.com and clicking on the naturalization link.

IMMIGRATION QUESTIONS

Question: I am married to a U.S. citizen and I recently got my two year conditional residency through my marriage. I have a 24-year-old son in Jamaica. Can I sponsor him now with my conditional residency, or do I need to wait until I get my permanent green card?

Answer : During the two-year period of conditional residency, an individual has all the rights of a permanent resident, including the ability to file immigrant petitions for qualifying family members. U.S. residents can sponsor a spouse, minor childen and unmarried adult children. The family immigration category for adult, single children of U.S. residents is called "F2B." Wait time for a visa in that category is about eight years or more, which means that once the family petition for your son is filed, he will need to wait about eight years to immigrate to the U.S. Also, it is very important to know that if he marries, the family petition you have filed for him will automatically be cancelled, since U.S. residents cannot sponsor their married children. Only U.S. citizens can sponsor their adult, married children to immigrate to the U.S.