Thousands of undocumented Dominican immigrants currently living in the United States are to benefit from the new immigration pardon introduced by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The pardon will come into effect as of the 29th of August this year.
The United States waiver essentially repeals all of the penalties against foreign immigrants who entered and are living in the United States. If these immigrants have spouses or children, regardless of whether or not they were born in the United States, who hold US citizenship, then they can also put in an application for residence. That situation applies to many undocumented Dominican immigrants, who came to the country from across the Mexican or Canadian borders or from Puerto Rico, often with “machete” passports, which are also known as supplanted IDs.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued a statement in which it states that the penalties against foreign immigrants who hold that status is no longer going to be enforced. Until now such immigrants have been forced to leave the United States for as long as an entire decade depending on the case, even if they had children or spouses who were American citizens.
The decision has been hailed by immigration activists throughout the United States, who have called it a crucial step forward in regards to resolving the legal status of millions of undocumented immigrants already living and working in the country.