TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -
For
hundreds of thousands if not millions of immigrants, the route to being a
legal U.S. resident means going back to their home country and applying
for residency there, which risked people being shut out when they wanted to
return to their families here.
That will soon change, and immigrants with
spouses or parents who are U.S. citizens who depend on them can apply for
a waiver before leaving the United States.
"We're
not going to be seeing those separations we've been seeing for so many years.
and this is a great opportunity for them," said Maria Carrasco, with
Derechos Humanos.
"First
of all, it will streamline the process. secondly, it will eliminate that fear
and hopefully more people will apply and we won't have as many people basically
living in the shadows in the united states," said immigration attorney
Maurice Goldman.
Goldman
has had to advise clients to consider the risk of being separated from their
families for years, up to a decade, as a punishment for living in this
country without documentation.
But starting in March, if their absence is
a hardship on those immediate relatives who are U.S. citizens, those
immigrants can find out before they leave the country if they can get a
waiver and return here after applying for residency.
"It'll
allow them to become residents, get their social security number, maybe open up
a business, you know it opens up many opportunities and it could have a
significant impact and a trickle-down effect on our economy," Goldman
said.
"They
want to work, they want to have a proper job to support their families,"
Carrasco said.
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