An unemployed illegal immigrant who has spent the last few years playing video games reportedly used records of his playing time to apply for and receive President Obama’s “deferred action” status.
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Jose Muñoz was an out-of-work 25-year-old Mexican immigrant who graduated with honors from his Sheboygan, Wisconsin high school in 2005.
Since that time, Muñoz — who was brought to the United States at the age of one — has been out of school and out of work, instead spending time helping his family with household chores and countless hours playing sports video games on his Xbox.
But when President Obama announced last year that his administration would look the other way on prosecuting young illegal immigrants like him, Muñoz jumped at the chance, contacting a local lawyer to help him through the process of applying for “deferred action.”
Acceptance in the “deferred action” program allows qualifying illegals immigrants to stay and work in the United States without fear of deportation.
Muñoz met all of the requirements: He entered America before he was 16. He graduated from high school. He had a clean criminal record. He was under thirty years old.
But to prove the last requirement — five years of continuous residency in the United States — Muñoz turned to his time playing sports video games.
Muñoz’s “Xbox LIVE” account contained records of downloads and video game purchases, as well as communications with other players. Muñoz and his lawyer printed out and submitted the extensive logs of Muñoz’s time playing and purchasing Xbox games, the Journal-Sentinel reported.
It worked.
Two months after applying for “deferred action,” the Department of Homeland Security responded with a letter notifying Muñoz that he had been approved.
The paper reports that Muñoz now maintains two jobs at a local factory and restaurant. “After all that time that I was so bored, now I don’t like having a day off. I’ve had enough days off,” he said. “I can finally do what I want to do because nothing is holding me back.”
National Journal reports that the number of illegal immigrants who have been granted “deferred action” status reached 199,460 by February 14, with 438, 372 applications having been submitted.
