5 things to know about Obama’s immigration executive actions

Tired of waiting for Congress to act on immigration, President Barack Obama announced last week a series of executive actions that he says serve as “a first step” to fixing the nation’s broken immigration system.

SEE ALSO: Obama on his immigration actions: ‘This is a first step’

The actions are meant to strengthen border security, prioritize deporting felons not families, and provide temporary protection from deportation to certain undocumented immigrants who pass a criminal background check and pay taxes.

Here are five things to know about Obama’s executive actions on immigration:

1. No applications are available yet

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency tasked with implementing Obama’s executive actions, has not released applications or instructions to apply for the president’s initiatives. The agency makes this clear on its website:

“Important notice: These initiatives have not yet been implemented, and USCIS is not accepting any requests or applications at this time. Beware of anyone who offers to help you submit an application or a request for any of these actions before they are available. You could become a victim of an immigration scam. Subscribe to this page to get updates when new information is posted.”

2. Deferred action for some undocumented parents

Under a new program called Deferred Action for Parental Accountability, some undocumented parents will qualify for deportation reprieve and work authorization if they meet the following requirements:

• Are the parent of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident child who was born on or before November 20, 2014
• Have continuous residence in the United States since January 1, 2010
• Have not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor or multiple misdemeanor offenses

Immigrants may begin applying for this program until May 2015. They can expect to pay a fee of $465.

3. Expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

When Obama first announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012, undocumented youth were eligible for it only if they had arrived in the U.S. before June 15, 2007 and were under the age of 31 on June 15, 2012. The program offers beneficiaries temporary relief from deportation and employment authorization.

But under the president’ new executive actions, changes will be made to expand the DACA program to benefit more undocumented immigrants. The entry requirement will be extended to June 1, 2010 and the age cap will be removed. Also, recipients will now be able to renew their DACA status every three years instead of the current two years.

Immigrants may begin applying for DACA until February 2015. They can expect to pay a fee of $465.

4. What immigrants can do to prepare

Though there’s still no application process set up, undocumented immigrants can begin to prepare to apply by gathering documents: Here are some of those documents:

• A birth certificate, a passport or any other photo ID to prove their identity.
• The birth certificate of their U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident child to prove family relationship.
• Utility bills, rent receipts, medical records, tax receipts or dated bank transactions to prove they’ve continuously resided in the U.S. for at least five years.

Immigrants should also begin to save up to pay the application fees.

5. Recent border crossers will be a priority for deportation

The White House has made it clear that anyone who recently crossed the border or may cross the border in the future will not qualify for any of the programs being offered under Obama’s new executive actions. Instead, recent border crossers will become a priority for deportation, as will individuals who are suspected of terrorism, violent criminals and gang members.

Setting up priorities for deportation is an effort by the Obama administration to focus its limited enforcement resources on those who actually pose a threat to national security, instead of going after parents who are working hard to provide for their kids. In other words, the administration says it wants to prioritize going after felons, not families.

SEE ALSO: The facts of Obama’s executive action on immigration