CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) -
Representatives from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services were in town Thursday night to do community outreach.
Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi served as host for the community meeting.
The main subject being addressed at the meeting was the Department of Homeland Security's new Deferred Action policy, which was announced in June.
The new policy is basically a temporary two-year protective status that protects young immigrants who were brought here illegally as kids from being deported, and would allow them to work here in the U.S.
In order to apply for Deferred Action status, you have to meet certain requirements. For example, as of June 15, the day the policy was announced, you had to be under 31 years old, and had to have come to the United States before your 16th birthday.
The Director of Immigration at Catholic Charities, Carrie Chavez Thompson, said her office has already had more than 100 appointments with young people who are applying for deferred action. Thompson said interviewing them has been an amazing process, and she's really been impressed with the caliber of individuals that have come into the office.
Thompson said the young people she has met with so far are phenomenal, adding that, while they're not legally citizens of the United States, they are American in every sense that we hold dear. They work hard and make their own destiny.
Thompson says the goal behind her efforts is that she wants as many people who qualify for deferred action to apply for it.
