By: Ashmar Mandou

New Deferred Action workshops are underway in the month of October, stated Senator Richard ‘Dick’ Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) at a press conference Tuesday morning.

Since Deferred Action Day hosted by the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) took place August 15, thousands of prospective applicants have reached out to various non-profit organizations across the city for assistance. Both Durbin and Gutierrez revealed applicants will be able to seek guidance on October 6th as a series of workshops will be held across the City of Chicago that will help young immigrants determine if they are eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

“The first people who applied in August are beginning to get their approvals,” Rep. Gutierrez said. “We want to make sure everyone who can apply in the Chicago area gets all the information and help they need to apply. This is a great opportunity and we have found that the more visible DREAMers and other immigrants become, the harder it is for politicians to ignore them. I see signing up for Deferred Action as the first step for the broader immigrant community to come forward, make themselves known, and get into the system and on-the-books.”

Applicants can visit www.DREAMRelief.org or gutierrezregister.com to pre-register for the workshops, which will be held at Roberto Clemente, Benito Juarez High Schools, Richard J. Daley, Harry Truman, and Wilbur Wright City Colleges on Saturday, Oct. 6.

“Since I first wrote the DREAM Act over a decade ago, I’ve met with countless young people who only want a chance to earn a chance to live and work without fear in the country they call home,” Durbin said. “President Obama’s deferred action policy gives many of them that chance. These young peoples’ entry into the workforce will also give American companies a chance to draw from their untapped talent. With such great humanitarian and economic benefits, we need to ensure that every young dreamer who qualifies for DACA knows exactly what they need to do in order to be considered. At last month’s DREAM Relief Day we saw such a high demand for help with applications that we weren’t able to assist all students. With the workshops planned for the coming weeks and months, we hope to give them the guidance they need.”

Those who pre-register will be notified for an appointment and given assistance in determining if they meet the eligibility criteria. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is the program announced by President Obama in June that allows undocumented youth who came to the U.S. as children to apply for a renewable two-year pardon from deportation and work authorization.