In the four years since President Obama announced his executive order protecting illegal aliens from deportation, only 48 percent of those eligible have applied for the program, an analysis published Thursday reveals.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) provides temporary legal status to illegal immigrants aged 15 to 35 who claim to have arrived in the U.S before they turned 16. These illegal aliens had to have resided continuously in the U.S. since June 2007 and had to have a high school degree or the equivalent or currently be enrolled in an educational program. After applying and being accepted, they’d be able to work and avoid deportation for two years. When the two years are up, they can renew their status.
The Center for Immigration Studies reviewed a report from the Migration Policy Institute which showed that there are 1,705,000 immediate and potentially eligible DACA recipients in the country. Just 820,000, 48 percent, applied for the program.
Immediately eligible means that the illegal alien fits the age and educational requirements. Potentially eligible means they have yet to fulfill the education requirement. However, to fulfill the education requirement an illegal alien just needs to enrolled in a school or adult educational program on the day of the application.
In Florida, for example, 92,000 illegal immigrants are eligible for DACA and yet 38 percent of those eligible or potentially eligible have applied. This numbers vary by state, in Texas the majority have applied.
The application percentages also vary by country. A majority of Mexicans have applied but just 24 percent of Guatemalans have.
Of those who applied in the U.S., 134,566 were either rejected or were previously approved and failed to renew.
This means that just 40 percent of those eligible for Obama’s amnesty have taken advantage of it.