Most of you probably have heard about President Obama’s announcement that he will grant deferred action to a sizable portion of the illegally present youth population in the country. Estimates vary from 800,000 to 1.5 million. Eligible applicants need to have been under 16 when entering the country, have entered more than five years ago and be between 15 and 30 when they apply. And they have to have a clean criminal history as well as meet a minimum education requirement. Those qualified will get a two year renewable benefit that includes a reprieve from deportation and work authorization. With work authorization, we expect many will be able to get drivers licenses and in state tuition. In short, they will have a semblance of a normal life.

Applications are supposed to begin being accepted in about two months. We still lack a lot of information on how the process will work. But in this issue we include an ABCs article on Deferred Action as well as an opinion piece I wrote this week for the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper.

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I want to welcome our new associate editor Nicollette Davis who will be handling much of the work putting together this newsletter. Nicollette is a recent graduate of my alma mater Vanderbilt University and we are excited to have her joining our team. Welcome Nicollette.

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Readers are reminded that they are welcome to contact my law office if they would like to schedule a telephone or in person consultation with me or one of my colleagues. If you are interested, please call my office at 901-682-6455.

Regards,

Greg Siskind