Immigration: Polis Announces Info Sessions for Potential DACA/DAPA Applicants Colorado enjoys highest DACA participation rate (>70%) for states with at least 20,000 potential beneficiaries

Press Release

Representative Jared Polis today announced a series of small information sessions his office is organizing over the coming months to help Coloradans who are applying for the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or the new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability program. The sessions are designed to help potential candidates navigate the federal application process.

It's estimated that in Colorado alone, nearly 100,000 undocumented individuals would be eligible for the expanded DACA program or the new DAPA program.

"DACA's expansion and the new DAPA program is welcome news for the tens of thousands of aspiring Americans who want nothing more than to contribute meaningfully to our communities without living in the constant fear that they'll be deported over something as simple as a broken tail-light," Polis said. "These sessions will help those individuals better understand the applications process and the programs themselves, while connecting them to resources in their communities that can aid in the process."

Polis' office -- one of the few Congressional offices in the country with an immigration lawyer on staff -- has already organized ten such events in Lafayette, Fort Collins, Westminister, Boulder, Longmont, and Lakewood.

It expects to hold more than 20 total sessions between now and mid-May, including the following:

DAPA/DACA sessions

Sat, Mar 28, Longmont

Thurs, Apr 9, Denver

Sat, Apr 18, Boulder

Thursday, April 23, Breckenridge

Sat, Jun 6, Westminister

Those interested in attending a future session should contact Jorge Loweree at Jorge.Loweree@mail.house.gov.

Outreach efforts by Congressional offices and allied organizations are one of the reasons why it's estimated Colorado has the highest DACA participation rate in the country (more than 70%), for states with at least 20,000 potential beneficiaries.

Jared's leadership on immigration

Jared has been a leader on fixing our broken immigration system since joining Congress in 2008. Last session, he introduced the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would have improved national security, streamlined our country's guest worker system, and created a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented individuals. The Senate companion of this landmark bill passed the Senate in June 2013 and was widely heralded as one of the most significant attempts to fix our broken immigration system in decades.

In January, Polis introduced the bipartisan American Entrepreneurship and Investment Act of 2015, which would make permanent the EB-5 Immigrant Investor visa program that incentivizes foreign entrepreneurs to build their firms on American soil, adding billions to our economy and creating tens of thousands of jobs.

Before joining Congress, Jared founded the New America School in 2004, an innovative approach to providing education to new immigrants, English-language learners, and academically underserved students. Currently New America Schools operate in three locations throughout Colorado (Aurora, Lakewood, and Thornton) and two locations in New Mexico (Albuquerque and Las Cruces).

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