293 undocumented Pinoys who requested DACA have arrest records —USCIS

At least 293 undocumented Filipinos in the United States who requested Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status were found to have arrest and apprehension records, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said.

According to USCIS' November 2019 update, around 12 percent of the 889,000 DACA requestors, or 118,371 DACA applicants of different countries of origin, had records of arrest or apprehension.

Of this number, 293 originated from the Philippines.

DACA is an American immigration policy that allows undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit in the US.

Applicants may be considered if they have not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more “non-significant” misdemeanors, among others.

Also, DACA requestors should not pose a threat to US national security or public safety.

However, arrests do not necessarily disqualify applicants from receiving DACA, the USCIS clarified.

In fact, of approved DACA applications with an arrest, 85% (67,861) of them were arrested or apprehended before their most recent DACA approval.

Philippine-originated illegal aliens placed 16th with the most number of DACA applicants with bad records.

Among the top offenses were driving-related, immigration-related, theft, larceny, drug-related, battery, and assault, according to the USCIS data. — Joviland Rita/BM, GMA News