New immigration policy provides pathway for DREAMers to adjust status
My interview with the first DREAMER to adjust their status through President Biden's new immigration program and how other DREAMers can benefit
On the heels of DACA’s 5th Circuit Court hearing today – which could help decide the fate of the program – I wanted to dedicate this space to a young man who has a remarkable story of grit, determination, and resilience. S (who’s asked to keep his name private), is the first person to travel on the new D3 waiver program President Biden announced earlier this summer, and has since successfully adjusted his status.
Born in Central America, S came to the US with his mother in the early 2000s when he was four years old, as a way to escape domestic violence. He grew up undocumented in the South, knowing that his status would complicate his life. Like many undocumented and DACA recipients who find themselves in that impossible situation, he was scrappy and forged ahead the best he could. He worked hard, and got into a top college that could offer him a full scholarship. Once there, he found out what DACA was for the first time – the executive action created by President Obama that shields young people brought here without legal status from deportation and offers them work authorization. But by that time, new DACA applications were not being accepted because of court battles.
That all changed in June of this year, when President Biden announced the “Keeping Families Together Program.” Part of the executive action would prioritize so-called D3 waivers for people who graduated from US colleges and universities and have a US employer sponsoring them for a temporary work visa. The D3 waiver can allow someone who is on DACA or undocumented to leave the United States, apply for a visa stamp at a US consulate abroad, and then return to the US in status.
A few weeks ago, S was on a plane for the first time since he was very young to go to his country of birth and test out this D3 waiver. He is now back in the US. And now for the first time in his life has lawful immigration status and work authorization. In the next week, he will start his first paid job as an engineer.
According to S’s lawyer Dan Berger, D3 waivers are part of immigration law and have been around for decades. Berger explained they were not widely used, in large part because they were so slow. “If the waivers take days or weeks instead of months or years, then they are a much more useful tool,” he shared. Thanks to Biden’s new program, now they are. This could be a huge aid for well over a million people - 400,000+ undocumented students in higher education, 530,000 DACA recipients, and about 300,000 graduates with degrees but not DACA. This New York Times article discussed the potential. And this NBC Know Your Value article I wrote lays out possible options for work sponsored visas Dreamers might now be able to pursue with more certainty.
Some background on how these waivers work - It takes time to set up a case, the individual needs an immigration screening to see if a temporary visa/D3 waiver is possible (and what longer term options there are from there). Then, the employer needs to be on board, and prepare and file a visa stamp. Last, the individual needs to plan travel to a US consulate, and wait for the visa and D3 waiver.
S, who is in his early 20s, is the first person to travel and return to the US with a D3 waivers since the Biden administration announced the “Keeping Families Together” program. His story shows that the new program streamlining D3 waivers can be a powerful tool for Dreamers to adjust their status and eventually provide a pathway to a green card.
I had the chance to learn more about S’ experience, here is a portion of that conversation:
DANIELA: What did you study in college?
S: Engineering. I got a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering, and then stayed on for a Master of Science Degree in Structural Engineering and Mechanics. I think about engineers as making a difference, in my case helping to design and repair bridges that keep people safe.
I enjoyed my classes, and I also was part of a program to teach engineering to elementary school students in the local public schools. We also helped develop curriculum for that age, and some of those are used in the schools now.
I kept busy being very active on the executive boards for first gen, low income student groups. I served as President of the ASCE student chapter and went to SOLES meetings as a member.
DANIELA: Your attorney shared that your professors said you were one of the best students they had seen in a decade. As you were finishing your masters, did you think about going on for a Ph.D. since you would not work as an engineer?
S: That was a hard time - I had finally reached my dream of getting a degree from a good university, and you are right, I knew I couldn’t work. The hard truth is that I felt extremely limited before this d3 initiative.
At that time, thankfully, the lawyer reached out to me to see if I would like to be part of a grant funded pilot program to try the d3 pathway. Very few people had done it before because it is hard to get a job and visa sponsorship when undocumented, and also it takes so long waiting abroad. Six months or more I remember him telling me. But I wanted to try, and the grant would cover travel and visa costs for the employer.
DANIELA: How did you go about finding an employer to sponsor you?
S: Thankfully again, my department was very supportive. They reached out to their contacts (this would never have happened if I had just sent applications cold), and found a local bridge engineering firm that was getting federal infrastructure money and needed young engineers. Because of the H-1B lottery, the firm could not get me an H-1b in 2024 on its own. But my university needed someone part time to mentor college students who were doing what I did - going into the public schools to teach engineering. And also to help develop a structural engineering curriculum for young children. By getting an H-1B at a university, I could get a second H-1B visa at a private company without going through the lottery.
DANIELA: That sounds like a lot of coordination to make it all work.
S: Yes, it took a lot of conversations with the engineering firm, my school, and my professors, but we made it work. My lawyer kept telling me that this was setting up options, and that I would be the one to decide when the H-1Bs were approved whether I would actually leave the US to seek the d3 waiver.
DANIELA: When did you learn about the Biden d3 program?
S: Right when it was announced. My lawyer was invited to the White House for the announcement, since he was involved in thinking about the program, and sending test cases to show proof of concept. He was part of another grant called Path2Papers at Cornell Law School that worked on employer-sponsorship for Dreamers. I hoped the new d3 program would be faster - it includes a recommendation for an expedite - but there was no guarantee.
DANIELA - When you did go to the US Embassy (abroad in your native country) what was your experience?
S: The officers were polite and friendly. They asked a lot of questions, and looked through all my documents. I had gotten the old deportation ordered canceled through the Biden Prosecutorial Discretion option, and the officer wanted to see all that. The Vice Consul actually said that the d3 initiative was a good idea.
DANIELA - What was it like to be done, and fly back to the US?
S: It really did take weeks not months and I’m really grateful for that. But I thought I might be returning in a week, and then there was a mistake on my passport that had to be fixed and it took another week. So I was rearranging flights, and extending the hotel stay.
Flying back I had a 3 hour layover in Miami, but my first flight left two hours late. I was nervous even though I had the visa in my passport. I waited in line for almost an hour, watching as only 2 of roughly 30 booths were manned. And then at the end I was called into a back room that was really pretty scary. The officers did not seem to want to be there either, and I waited for another 45 minutes or so. I tried to say that my flight was boarding, but it didn’t help. Finally, I was called to a window, and in almost no time, I was in. I then ran as fast as I’ve even run across the terminal, and got to the gate right as the door was closing.
DANIELA: Will you eventually pursue a green card?
S: Yes! The best thing about being in H1-b status is that now I no longer need the I601-A, a waiver that would require me to interview in my home country for my green card, and I can adjust my status within the US now. My lawyer and I are currently applying for the i-601 concurrently with the I485 green card application and I-765 work authorization card. We estimate around 9 months-1 yr for the green card application to get approved, but in the meantime I will get a work authorization card after 3 months or so that will allow me to work wherever and whenever I want. So I will no longer need the H-1b at that point!