EFE Agency – Monday April 26, 2021
Los Angeles, April 26 (EFE News)- A group of 84 "dreamers" (beneficiaries of the DACA program) presented a legal request to a Los Angeles court on Monday asking that the federal government be urged to respond to their requests for permission to travel outside the country.
Filed on behalf of these beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in conjunction with the California-Mexico Studies Center (CMSC), the lawsuit asks a judge to order federal immigration officials to expedite their procedures for application to travel abroad for academic and family reasons.
"It is a legal action in which the judge to whom the case is assigned is asked to order government officials to perform a service for which they have been paid," Armando Vázquez-Ramos, president and executive director of CMSC, explained to EFE.
As explained by the activist and university professor, the Dreamers who filed the lawsuit have paid about $50,000 to obtain their permit known as Advance Parole and have submitted all the required documentation.
Vázquez-Ramos recriminated that "since he took office, the government of (President Joe) Biden has ignored us."
The legal authorization that these DACA beneficiaries request is to take a course in Mexico, visit their relatives whom they have not seen for years and have a closer personal experience of their roots.
"The Government has told us that the time taken for this decision is between five and five and a half months, but they have already exceeded that period by more than two months," added the academic.
With the legal action, the young people hope to receive their permission to leave the country and be able to return legally, after attending an academic program that is scheduled for May 15, according to Lidieth Arévalo, executive assistant and multimedia director of CMSC.
Another 141 young people applied for the Summer Program and are scheduled to travel in three groups between July 15 and August 22, added the Salvadoran, who is also a DACA recipient.
Upon their return from the course, each participant must write a 10-page essay reflecting their experience.
(c) EFE Agency – Monday April 26, 2021
